{ "title": "Transcript of the IMFC Press Conference", "publication": "IMF News, October 14, 2017", "sourceUrl": "https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2017/10/14/tr101417-imfc-press-conference", "canonical": "https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2017/10/14/tr101417-imfc-press-conference", "overlayPath": "/en/news/articles/2017/10/14/tr101417-imfc-press-conference/index.md", "summary": "Chair: Agustín Carstens, Chairman, International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC).", "publishDate": "2017-10-14", "sections": [ { "heading": "Meeting overview", "content": "- Chair: Agustín Carstens, Chairman, International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC).\n- Managing Director: Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, IMF.\n- Date: October 14, 2017.\n- Main consensus: \"The global outlook is strengthening\" and this \"welcome upturn is a window of opportunity\" to address key policy challenges and raise potential growth.\n- Near-term risks: \"broadly balanced.\"\n- Medium-term risks: \"tilted to the downside.\"\n- No room for complacency emphasized." }, { "heading": "Global outlook and policy recommendations", "content": "- Monetary policy:\n - Should \"remain accommodative, where inflation is still below target and output gaps are negative.\"\n - Monetary policy alone cannot support the recovery.\n- Fiscal policy:\n - Need for \"growth-friendly fiscal policies that still ensure public debt is on a sustainable path.\"\n- Structural reforms:\n - \"Well-sequenced structural reforms adapted to the members\" to lift productivity and promote growth and employment.\n- Inclusion and productivity:\n - Policies to \"boost productivity and promote inclusiveness.\"\n- Endorsements:\n - Committee \"strongly endorsed the Managing Director’s Global Policy Agenda\" and the IMF’s work to \"deepen the recovery, build resilience, promote inclusion, and expand opportunities for all.\"" }, { "heading": "IMF institutional and cooperative work", "content": "- Supported IMF’s role in the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.\n- Welcomed efforts to strengthen the effectiveness of capacity development.\n- Endorsed a review of the IMF’s lending facilities for low-income countries, including preparedness and response to natural disasters and assistance for fragile states recovering from conflicts.\n- Supported further IMF work on:\n - Governance and corruption issues.\n - External sector assessment.\n - Strengthening the global financial safety net, \"having the IMF at the center of it.\"\n- Continued work to agree on the way forward on members’ quotas." }, { "heading": "Country-specific notes and policy advice", "content": "- India:\n - IMF growth forecast for the year lowered to \"6.7 percent\", with demonetization and GST cited as \"transient reasons\".\n - Assessment: medium- and long-term growth path \"much more solid\" due to recent structural reforms.\n - Observations: demonetization and collapsing \"40 different taxes into one single GST\" amounted to a monumental effort with short-term implementation effects.\n - Policy emphasis: combination of fiscal consolidation (deficit reduced), low inflation, and structural reforms to deliver jobs.\n\n- Indonesia:\n - Indonesia to host the 2018 Annual Meetings; hosting seen as a showcase and economic opportunity.\n - IMF growth forecasts cited: \"5.2, 5.3\" for Indonesia going forward.\n - Policy recommendations: continue structural reforms, strengthen focus on growth and resilience, sustain tax collection and revenue generation efforts (including follow-up to the tax amnesty).\n - International cooperation: importance of information-sharing and IT systems to fight tax evasion and improve enforcement.\n\n- Mexico and inclusion/corruption:\n - Inclusion of women and anti-corruption measures highlighted as essential for sustainable growth and to prevent persistent lagging.\n - IMF operational approach: produce analytical work, systematize policy recommendations, and deliver capacity-building.\n - Gender-related measures mentioned: gender budgeting, public spending to facilitate women's workforce access, and tax-system changes to avoid unequal taxation of women as secondary earners.\n\n- Trade and NAFTA:\n - Trade described as a \"very powerful engine for growth, for innovation, for competition, and for productivity.\"\n - Revisiting longstanding agreements is legitimate given global change; objective is modernization that can be \"a win-win for all countries.\"\n - Specific to NAFTA: recognition of NAFTA's importance to Mexico and expectation that negotiations can be modernized to be fair and productive for the three countries.\n\n- Iran:\n - IMF operations: \"we operate with 189 members, and we only provide support and enter into program negotiations when a country asks for it.\"\n - No change signaled to IMF operational guidelines in response to external political statements." }, { "heading": "Technical and operational points", "content": "- Use of technology and IT systems: stressed as essential to facilitate international information sharing, verify declarations, and combat tax evasion, anti-money laundering, and financing of terrorism.\n- Inclusion programs and pilots:\n - IMF has completed \"more than 20 pilots\" and has \"another 13 underway\" on inclusion of women.\n- Anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism work: IMF has worked with \"more than 120 countries\" and plans deeper, more granular identification of corruption.\n- Chairmanship note: Agustín Carstens’ last IMFC meeting as Chair; he assumed chairmanship in \"March 2015.\"" }, { "heading": "Key statistics and figures (verbatim)", "content": "- Date of transcript: October 14, 2017.\n- IMF membership count referenced: \"189 members.\"\n- India forecast for the year: \"6.7 percent.\"\n- India policy change: \"collapsing 40 different taxes into one single GST.\"\n- Indonesia growth forecasts mentioned: \"5.2, 5.3.\"\n- Number of pilots completed on women’s inclusion: \"more than 20 pilots now completed, another 13 underway.\"\n- Countries worked with on anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism: \"more than 120 countries.\"\n- Agustín Carstens assumed IMFC chairmanship in \"March 2015.\"\n\nSource: Transcript of the IMFC Press Conference, October 14, 2017.\n\n---\n\n\n References\n\n- India and the IMF\n- Indonesia and the IMF\n- Islamic Republic of Iran and the IMF\n- Mexico and the IMF\n- The IMF and Good Governance -- A Factsheet\n- Transcripts\n- PRESS CENTER\n- https://www.imf.org/en/home\n\nSource: https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2017/10/14/tr101417-imfc-press-conference" } ], "bullets": [ "[Markdown version](/en/news/articles/2017/10/14/tr101417-imfc-press-conference/index.md)", "[Structured JSON version](/en/news/articles/2017/10/14/tr101417-imfc-press-conference/index.json)", "[Bundle manifest](/en/news/articles/2017/10/14/tr101417-imfc-press-conference/bundle-manifest.json)", "Published: October 14, 2017", "Chair: Agustín Carstens, Chairman, International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC).", "Managing Director: Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, IMF.", "Date: October 14, 2017.", "Main consensus: \"The global outlook is strengthening\" and this \"welcome upturn is a window of opportunity\" to address key policy challenges and raise potential growth.", "Near-term risks: \"broadly balanced.\"", "Medium-term risks: \"tilted to the downside.\"", "No room for complacency emphasized.", "Monetary policy:", "Fiscal policy:", "Structural reforms:", "Inclusion and productivity:", "Endorsements:", "Supported IMF’s role in the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.", "Welcomed efforts to strengthen the effectiveness of capacity development.", "Endorsed a review of the IMF’s lending facilities for low-income countries, including preparedness and response to natural disasters and assistance for fragile states recovering from conflicts.", "Supported further IMF work on:", "Continued work to agree on the way forward on members’ quotas.", "India:", "Indonesia:", "Mexico and inclusion/corruption:", "Trade and NAFTA:", "Iran:", "Use of technology and IT systems: stressed as essential to facilitate international information sharing, verify declarations, and combat tax evasion, anti-money laundering, and financing of terrorism.", "Inclusion programs and pilots:", "Anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism work: IMF has worked with \"more than 120 countries\" and plans deeper, more granular identification of corruption.", "Chairmanship note: Agustín Carstens’ last IMFC meeting as Chair; he assumed chairmanship in \"March 2015.\"", "Date of transcript: October 14, 2017.", "IMF membership count referenced: \"189 members.\"", "India forecast for the year: \"6.7 percent.\"", "India policy change: \"collapsing 40 different taxes into one single GST.\"", "Indonesia growth forecasts mentioned: \"5.2, 5.3.\"", "Number of pilots completed on women’s inclusion: \"more than 20 pilots now completed, another 13 underway.\"", "Countries worked with on anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism: \"more than 120 countries.\"", "Agustín Carstens assumed IMFC chairmanship in \"March 2015.\"", "[India and the IMF](http://www.imf.org/external/country/IND/index.htm)", "[Indonesia and the IMF](http://www.imf.org/external/country/IDN/index.htm)", "[Islamic Republic of Iran and the IMF](http://www.imf.org/external/country/IRN/index.htm)", "[Mexico and the IMF](http://www.imf.org/external/country/MEX/index.htm)", "[The IMF and Good Governance -- A Factsheet](https://www.imf.org/en/about/factsheets/sheets/2023/the-imf-and-good-governance)", "[Transcripts](https://www.imf.org/en/news/searchnews)", "[PRESS CENTER](http://presscenter.imf.org/)", "[https://www.imf.org/en/home](https://www.imf.org/en/home)" ], "alternates": { "markdown": "/en/news/articles/2017/10/14/tr101417-imfc-press-conference/index.md", "json": "/en/news/articles/2017/10/14/tr101417-imfc-press-conference/index.json", "bundleManifest": "/en/news/articles/2017/10/14/tr101417-imfc-press-conference/bundle-manifest.json" }, "generatedAtUtc": "2026-09-25T21:17:22.124Z" }