IMF-G20/OPENING Peru's Humala opens plenary session at IMF, World Bank annual meetings in Lima

Record ID: 135837

  • Title: IMF-G20/OPENING Peru's Humala opens plenary session at IMF, World Bank annual meetings in Lima
  • Date: 9th October 2015
  • Summary: LIMA, PERU (OCTOBER 9, 2105) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ATTENDEES LISTENING WORLD BANK GROUP PRESIDENT, JIM YONG KIM, SPEAKING
  • Embargoed: 24th October 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Peru
  • Country: Peru
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVACBWME82ZLIH8WOKALO28WGKGR
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Peruvian President Ollanta Humala on Friday (October 9) opened the plenary session of the IMF and World Bank annual meetings currently underway in Lima.
    Humala, who has been president of the South American nation since 2011, said that poverty and inequality in Latin America had to be tackled, despite lower growth rates for the region.
    "We believe that in the medium-term Latin America will not go back to having growth rates greater than 6 percent like those we had in 2011. As such, we must prepare ourselves to continue reducing poverty and inequality with the current growth rates," he said.
    World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim also spoke during the plenary, where he stressed the importance of policies that promote inclusive growth.
    "The question we ask today is how can developing countries grow in the face of slow global economy, the end of the commodities super-cycle, pending interest rate hikes, and capital flight from emerging markets? Our overarching strategy, based on more than 50 years of experience, is that three things must happen - inclusive economic growth, investment in human beings, and insurance against the risk that people might fall back into poverty. We summarize this in three words - grow, invest, ensure," said Kim, a trained physician and anthropologist.
    The Washington-based World Bank said Sunday (October 4) the number of people living in extreme poverty is likely to fall for the first time below 10 percent of the world's population in 2015, partly due to recent strong economic growth rates in emerging markets.
    Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, expressed optimism that the recent Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) between 12 Pacific Rim countries would play a role in jump-starting a slowed global economy.
    "Central Banks in advanced economies should give due consideration to the risk of spillovers from their policy decisions. Emerging economies should firmly address the buildup of corporative leverage and foreign debt. And I'm hopeful that building on the recent TPP agreement we can restart the stalling engine of global trade. These upgrades will make the global economy more resilient against the increased uncertainty that we face now," said Lagarde, a French lawyer and politician.
    Lagarde said on Thursday (October 8) that the global lender may push ahead with interim steps to give emerging markets a bigger say, despite a stalemate in the U.S. Congress over approval of broader governance reforms.
    Reforms agreed in 2010 would put Brazil, China, India and Russia among the fund's top 10 shareholders, but they still need approval from the U.S. Congress, frustrating emerging markets that pushed hard for more voting power, and prompting warnings from Europe about the dangers of U.S. isolation.
    IMF policymakers have said they will come up with ideas on how to push ahead with reform by mid-December.
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