The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, today ruled out a recession in the world economy in the short term and said she hopes that the country and China, the two largest economic powers, will be able to close a pact that will end their commercial disputes.
“The economy is at a delicate moment, but I do not expect a recession,” Lagarde said at a conference organized by the Milken Institute in Los Angeles, California.
The IMF leader cited the “surprisingly good” data of the national economy, which grew at an annual rate of 3.2% in the first quarter of 2019, a figure that exceeded analysts’ expectations and allowed the president, Donald Trump, take your chest before the warnings of the agency based in Washington.
Despite these figures, Lagarde stressed the importance that the governments of the country and China reach a pact to end their particular trade war, which has affected the growth prospects of both and the world.
“I would say yes,” Lagarde responded when asked if she expects both economies to reach a trade agreement soon.
Last week, Lagarde said during a meeting in Beijing with Chinese President Xi Jinping that “the world needs China” and that “world economic growth can not be maintained” without the contribution of the Asian giant.
The country and China are engaged in a complex trade dispute after Trump announced tariffs on hundreds of products of the Asian giant to force Beijing to rebalance the, in his opinion, “unfair” business relationship.
In response, the Chinese authorities have levied taxes on numerous products.
The current slowdown in China, which had been the global locomotive in the last century, has led to “impacts” in other parts of the world such as Asia and Europe, according to the IMF’s “Global Economic Perspectives” report released at the beginning of the year. April.
In that document, the IMF lowered global growth expectations by two tenths to 3.3% by 2019, the lowest since the 2009 financial crisis, hindered by the trade war between Washington and Beijing.
Lagarde was the first speaker at the annual conference of the Milken Institute, which will feature the heads of financial structures such as Goldman Sachs and Blackstone Group and leading investment and pension funds. (EFEUSA) .-
