IMF Urges Rate Cuts, Protests Fizzle

14/05/2001| IslamWeb

OTTAWA (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund on Saturday pressed the world's richest nations to cut interest rates more if needed to bolster a bleak world economy as boisterous anti-globalization protesters braved the Canadian chill.With the IMF taking center stage on the second day of international financial meetings here, police made more than a dozen arrests as many as 4,000 protesters, some of them burning the U.S. flag, gathered for a demonstration against the guardians of globalization and the bombing in Afghanistan.
Inside barricades erected to protect the meetings from the protesters, finance ministers and central bankers from around the world met to chart the actions the IMF would take in the months ahead to try and counter an increasingly dour and uncertain global economic outlook.
In a draft communique obtained by Reuters, the IMF said rich nations must take the lead in boosting growth and most should cut interest rates further if needed.
And on the hotly-debated topic of whether the IMF should take a leading role in the fight against funding terrorism, the lender's policy-setting committee opted against expanding its mandate to become a global financial policeman.
The communique reiterated that the IMF expects the world economy will start to recover by the second half of next year.