De Rato applauds growth in China and India
| Pages | 65-67 |
Page 65
During a recent visit to Asia, IMF Managing Director Rodrigo de Rato encouraged China and India to safeguard their economies against potential external shocks and strengthen their standing in the global market place. China, he said, is in a position to take advantage of its current strong economy and move gradually toward flexible exchange rates; India's increasingly vibrant economy stands to gain momentum if it can reduce large deficits and open up to more trade and investment.
Page 67
During a recent visit to Asia, IMF Managing Director Rodrigo de Rato encouraged China and India to bolster their already successful growth performance by taking steps that would help their economies guard against potential external shocks and cope with growing global competition.
In Shanghai on March 14-16, where he attended a meeting of the IMF's Capital Markets Consultative Group and met with Chinese officials, de Rato said China should seize this moment of economic strength and gradually move toward more exchange rate flexibility. After a meeting with Zhou Xiaochuan, the Governor of the People's Bank of China, de Rato told a news conference that such a move would be in the interests of the Chinese people and to the advantage of the Chinese economy.
He said that this shift in policy would better protect China against external shocks and make it easier to conduct an autonomous monetary policy, but added that it was up to the authorities to choose the timing.
At the close of China's National People's Congress the previous day, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao reiterated China's commitment to move to a market-based, managed floating exchange rate, but did not provide a timetable. De Rato also welcomed the authorities' commitment to policies aimed at restraining the overheating of the economy.
On the second leg of his trip, de Rato visited Mumbai and New Delhi on March 17-19 and praised India's vibrant economy, saying that the change in India is palpable: business leaders and citizens are brimming with confidence, and investors are taking note. But more needs to be done, he said, if the country is to progress at an even more dramatic rate.
Speaking at the Reserve Bank of India, de Rato observed that India is competing and winning in the global marketplace-not only in the information technology sector but...
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