{
  "title": "Transcript of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) Press Briefing",
  "publication": "IMF News, April 12, 2014",
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2015/09/28/04/54/tr041214b",
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  "summary": "Need for a new balance in policies that meets the needs of the new phase in the economic recovery globally:",
  "publishDate": "2014-04-12",
  "sections": [
    {
      "heading": "Key themes from opening remarks",
      "content": "- Need for a new balance in policies that meets the needs of the new phase in the economic recovery globally:\n  - Greater focus on the medium term more than the short term.\n  - Much greater focus on structural reforms, including:\n    - Balance sheet repair in banking systems, including in Europe.\n    - Improving labor market functioning to reduce extraordinarily high levels of youth unemployment.\n    - Building up and strengthening institutions in emerging, developing, and advanced economies.\n- Structural reforms should complement, not abruptly replace, macroeconomic support—especially monetary policy—while preparing economies for sustained growth."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Financial stability and capital-flow risks",
      "content": "- Concerns highlighted:\n  - Legacy risks from the last crisis and new financial risks, notably increased corporate leverage in some parts of the world not matched by improvements in investment.\n  - Continued risk of volatility in capital flows to emerging market economies; this is expected to be a continuing challenge.\n- Observations on global finance structure:\n  - Larger capital flows with changed composition toward bond markets, mutual funds, and ETFs.\n  - Increased retail investor participation leading to more herd-like behavior and accentuated \"risk on/risk off\" dynamics.\n- Policy implication:\n  - Emphasis on work from the Global Financial Stability Report and continued monitoring of changing capital-flow composition and volatility."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Geopolitical risks and IMF operational responses",
      "content": "- Geopolitical tensions (explicit reference to Ukraine among other risks) were a distinct area of concern.\n- IMF role:\n  - Rapid engagement and stabilization where possible.\n  - For Ukraine: staff agreement on necessary measures and financing needs; Ukraine is \"gradually, I understand fast, taking the measures\" required for prior actions; expectation that program could be concluded \"at the end of April.\""
    },
    {
      "heading": "IMF institutional reform (2010 Reforms) and governance",
      "content": "- Strong emphasis on completing the 2010 Reforms of the Fund:\n  - Seen as critical for a safer, better world and for the Fund to provide critical public goods.\n  - Calls for the United States to play its responsible role; confidence expressed that it will.\n- If 2010 reforms are not completed:\n  - Risk of disruptive change, weakening of multilateralism, and rise of regionalism and bilateralism.\n  - Statement that it is \"entirely possible that the United States is going to ratify the 2010 reforms in the course of the year.\""
    },
    {
      "heading": "Growth agenda, rebalancing, and inclusiveness",
      "content": "- Strong endorsement of the Global Policy Agenda and focus on:\n  - \"Pursuit of growth\" that is better and more inclusive.\n  - Work on inequality from a fiscal point of view.\n  - Rebalancing: examples given include rebalancing in the United States and China; remaining rebalancing needed in some emerging market economies (deficits) and Northern Europe (surpluses).\n  - Climate change and environmental degradation recognized as macroeconomically important.\n- Structural reforms, investment, and infrastructure:\n  - Investment remains weak relative to where it should be across advanced and emerging economies.\n  - Infrastructure investment has \"huge potential\" for sustainable growth but requires transparent, predictable regulation and a framework that gives confidence to private investors."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Monetary policy, low inflation, and central-bank tools",
      "content": "- Low inflation is an issue across many advanced economies, not just the euro area.\n- ECB context:\n  - Reference to \"12 percent unemployment rate in the euro area.\"\n  - Encouragement that the ECB \"has available, and will use in due course and if necessary, the appropriate tools to deal with it.\"\n- Policy stances noted:\n  - \"Tapering\" in the United States; continued accommodative policy in Europe and Japan; structural reforms broadly emphasized."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Resilience, international safety nets, and capital-flow management",
      "content": "- Emphasis on strengthening domestic resilience:\n  - Stable inflation, medium-term fiscal balance, and investment-friendly frameworks.\n- Discussion of gaps in the international safety net:\n  - Need for instruments providing quick liquidity to well-managed countries without conditionality to reduce ex ante reserve accumulation by developing countries.\n  - Careful study required to avoid moral hazard."
    },
    {
      "heading": "IMF operations, capacity building, and outreach",
      "content": "- Current operational scope highlighted by Managing Director Christine Lagarde:\n  - Lending: \"We lent under 33 different programs at the moment.\"\n  - Technical assistance: provided to \"150 members within the membership.\"\n  - Regional engagement and capacity-building examples:\n    - Fifth Regional Training Center opened in Accra, Ghana.\n    - Upcoming conferences: \"Africa Rising\" in Maputo, Mozambique (at the end of May) and a conference in Amman, Jordan (early June) focused on growth and jobs in Arab countries."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Country-specific notes and messaging",
      "content": "- Greece:\n  - Acknowledgement of severe hardships, especially youth unemployment; cited figure \"60 percent of the young people are unemployed.\"\n  - Signs of improvement: \"for the first time seeing positive growth,\" exports improving, ability to borrow from markets \"at not extraordinary but very decent rates and oversubscribed.\"\n  - Hope that returning confidence and structural reforms will lead to investment and job creation.\n- MENA region:\n  - IMF programs underway with Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan; negotiations with Yemen.\n  - Technical assistance provided to countries including Egypt.\n- Ghana and broader outreach:\n  - Emphasis on partnership approach, technical assistance, changed approach from past \"structural adjustment\" models."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Accountability, G20 growth target, and monitoring",
      "content": "- On the G20 target to raise growth by 2 percent in five years (characterized in discussion as implying 0.4 percent per year in a question):\n  - IMF approach: scoring and assessment of contributions from G20 country plans before accounting for aggregate effects; currently in the \"scoring phase.\"\n  - No automatic mechanical incorporation of \"0.4 percent per year\" into WEO forecasts without delivery and renewed commitments."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Discussion dynamics and forward agenda",
      "content": "- Recognition that past multilateral growth initiatives have often fizzled; participants noted differences this time:\n  - Greater detail around the kind of growth sought (inclusive, sustainable, mindful of externalities).\n  - Stronger engagement and willingness to be accountable.\n- Emphasis on avoiding policy slippage in good times by strengthening medium-term fiscal planning and institutions to reduce likelihood and severity of future crises.\n\nTranscript of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) Press Briefing (April 12, 2014) — International Monetary Fund\n\n---\n\n\n References\n\n- Ghana and the IMF\n- Greece and the IMF\n- Japan and the IMF\n- Ukraine and the IMF\n- United States and the IMF\n- Conditionality\n- Technical Assistance -- A Factsheet\n- Transcripts\n- PRESS CENTER\n- Webcast\n- https://www.imf.org/en/home\n\nSource: https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2015/09/28/04/54/tr041214b"
    }
  ],
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    "[Markdown version](/en/news/articles/2015/09/28/04/54/tr041214b/index.md)",
    "[Structured JSON version](/en/news/articles/2015/09/28/04/54/tr041214b/index.json)",
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    "Published: April 12, 2014",
    "Need for a new balance in policies that meets the needs of the new phase in the economic recovery globally:",
    "Structural reforms should complement, not abruptly replace, macroeconomic support—especially monetary policy—while preparing economies for sustained growth.",
    "Concerns highlighted:",
    "Observations on global finance structure:",
    "Policy implication:",
    "Geopolitical tensions (explicit reference to Ukraine among other risks) were a distinct area of concern.",
    "IMF role:",
    "Strong emphasis on completing the 2010 Reforms of the Fund:",
    "If 2010 reforms are not completed:",
    "Strong endorsement of the Global Policy Agenda and focus on:",
    "Structural reforms, investment, and infrastructure:",
    "Low inflation is an issue across many advanced economies, not just the euro area.",
    "ECB context:",
    "Policy stances noted:",
    "Emphasis on strengthening domestic resilience:",
    "Discussion of gaps in the international safety net:",
    "Current operational scope highlighted by Managing Director Christine Lagarde:",
    "Greece:",
    "MENA region:",
    "Ghana and broader outreach:",
    "On the G20 target to raise growth by 2 percent in five years (characterized in discussion as implying 0.4 percent per year in a question):",
    "Recognition that past multilateral growth initiatives have often fizzled; participants noted differences this time:",
    "Emphasis on avoiding policy slippage in good times by strengthening medium-term fiscal planning and institutions to reduce likelihood and severity of future crises.",
    "[Ghana and the IMF](http://www.imf.org/external/country/GHA/index.htm)",
    "[Greece and the IMF](http://www.imf.org/external/country/GRC/index.htm)",
    "[Japan and the IMF](http://www.imf.org/external/country/JPN/index.htm)",
    "[Ukraine and the IMF](http://www.imf.org/external/country/UKR/index.htm)",
    "[United States and the IMF](http://www.imf.org/external/country/USA/index.htm)",
    "[Conditionality](https://www.imf.org/en/about/factsheets/sheets/2023/imf-conditionality)",
    "[Technical Assistance -- A Factsheet](https://www.imf.org/en/about/factsheets/imf-capacity-development)",
    "[Transcripts](https://www.imf.org/en/news/searchnews)",
    "[PRESS CENTER](http://presscenter.imf.org/)",
    "[Webcast](https://www.imf.org/external/spring/2014/mmedia/view.aspx?vid=3461590527001)",
    "[https://www.imf.org/en/home](https://www.imf.org/en/home)"
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