Further global collective action focused on priority areas would raise growth, lower unemployment and reduce poverty, the International Monetary Fund ( IMF) said on Friday.
Priority collaboration areas included structural reforms and greater exchange rate flexibility to strengthen internal demand in emerging economies, further fiscal consolidation in advanced economies based on "growth-friendly" measures, and product and labor market reforms across the membership to boost productive capacity, the IMF noted in a document entitled "G-20 Mutual Assessment Process--IMF Staff Assessment of G-20 Policies."
Progress was being made, but important policy challenges remained to meet the objectives of "strong, sustainable and balanced growth" agreed by G-20 leaders, contended the 40-page- long document prepared by the IMF staff.
The Washington-based agency pointed out that fiscal projections were "broadly on track to meet Toronto commitments," but there were significant risks to the envisaged consolidation if growth faltered.
"Policy challenges are to formulate clear, credible, and ambitious medium-term plans underpinned by commitments in critical areas, including entitlement and tax reforms that are supportive of growth," the document pointed out.
G-20 leaders pledged to mutually assess and adopt policies that would ensure a lasting recovery and a brighter economic future. To this end, they launched a "framework for strong, sustainable, and balanced growth" at their 2009 Summit in Pittsburgh, where G-20 leaders committed to clarifying key objectives, elaborating policies aimed at meeting those objectives, and a mutual assessment process to track progress.
The IMF, with input from other international institutions, was asked to assist in analyzing how their respective national and regional frameworks fit together, and to develop a forward-looking analysis of whether policies pursued by individual G-20 members are collectively consistent with strong, sustainable, and balanced trajectories for the global economy.
(VietNamNet/Xinhuanet)
