The global community can help poor countries weather the current slowdown in the world economy by keeping trade flowing, encouraging investment and making good on aid promises, the head of the International Monetary Fund said yesterday.
IMF Managing Director, Christine Lagarde,argued? that? more than a decade of economic progress in poor countries could be under-mined by a new phase of the financial crisis.
Concerns over a sovereign debt crisis in Europe and a slowing recovery in the United States have rattled financial markets and slowed economic growth in both regions.
“The international community? including the IMF? must be prepared to do even more to help the low-income countries help themselves,” she told a high-level seminar before the start of IMF and World Bank meetings this week.
It was vital, she added, that poor nations protect spending for the most vulnerable households and safeguard economic growth, which is essential for tackling poverty.