Istanbul, Jan. 22 () - The International Monetary Fund's (IMF) managing director Christine Lagarde tried on Tuesday to ease concern about the change in the projection for global economic expansion and said the latest revisions on global economic growth were “not major”.
In an interview with CNBC in Davos, Lagarde acknowledged that the magnitude of risks has increased together with an acceleration of the pace at which they are materializing. The downgrade to 3.5 percent for this year and 3.6 percent for 2019 from 3.7 percent in both cases was "not a major revision," she stressed.
Lagarde, agreed on the fact that instability has risen substantially in just half a year, according to the former minister of finance of France. She said markets took account of that and that values moved "dramatically" over a few months before stabilizing. Advanced economies will particularly be impacted in Lagarde's view.
Import tariffs brought by the trade war between the United States and China are starting to show consequences, "however small," she asserted and noted an end to negotiations can't be seen, as in the case of UK’s withdrawal from the European Union. Lagarde said that the Brexit process could also be prolonged and added "anything short" of a cliff edge breakup would be "better." Still, the mildest scenario would also add frictions and damage, she warned. On the flipside, she highlighted the new free trade deals between the US, Canada and Mexico and the 11 members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Also, Lagarde said, China's credit tightening and appropriate stimulus are favorable policy measures.