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SYDNEY. — IMF chief Christine Lagarde and British finance minister George Osborne yesterday demanded emerging economies get their own houses in order, after some attacked US monetary policy in the run-up to G20 talks this weekend.
While Lagarde also cautioned the US Federal Reserve to be “mindful” of the impact of its stimulus exit on major developing players, Osborne urged emerging markets to refrain from “finger-pointing and distractions” at the Sydney meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bankers. Countries including Argentina, India, Russia, South Africa and Turkey have suffered sharp losses to their currencies as a by-product of the Fed’s “taper” — the ending of a mammoth stimulus programme that is seeing capital flows switch abruptly away from the developing world.
Lagarde said “just a hint of tapering” in May last year had sent ripples through the markets and the International Monetary Fund had asked “the US authorities, particularly the Fed, be mindful of what’s happening elsewhere when you do what you have announced”.
“Don’t go too fast and explain what you are doing,” the IMF chief said in a public question-and-answer session recorded for ABC television in Sydney. —AFP.
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