IMF / LAGARDE

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said Finance Ministers and Central Bank governors gathering for the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington this week will discuss how to break through a prolonged period of low growth and generate more growth and more jobs. IMF

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:28
• Production Date: 9 October 2014
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND - IMF
• Subject Topical: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT; FINANCING; ECONOMICS; ECONOMIC CONDITIONS; ECONOMY; ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT; PUBLIC FINANCE; DEVELOPMENT FINANCE; AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS; AGRICULTURAL POLICY; RURAL SOCIOLOGY; FINANCING
• MAMS Id: 1198543

Description

STORY: IMF / LAGARDE
TRT: 2.28
SOURCE: IMF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 9 OCTOBER 2014, WASHINGTON DC

Shotlist

1. Wide shot, start of news conference with IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, First Deputy Managing Director David Lipton and External Relations Department Director Gerry Rice
2. Med shot, photographers
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Christine Lagarde, IMF Managing Director
“We have also now alerted to the potential risk of recession in the euro zone. And, I think that risk has been identified as a probability of about 35 plus percent – anywhere between 35 and 40 percent -- which is not insignificant. We are not suggesting that zone is heading toward recession but we are saying that there is a serious risk that that happen if nothing is done.”
4. Med shot, reporter asking question about Greece
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Christine Lagarde, IMF Managing Director:
“We are very pleased to see that Greece has significantly improved its position. From a fiscal point of view, on the financial markets, there has been significant improvements. But we also believe that, going forward and in order to deliver a continuous satisfactory outcome, the country would be, in our view, in a better position if it had precautionary support.”
6. Med shot, journalists
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Christine Lagarde, IMF Managing Director:
“Looking after and trying to help the three West African countries that are hit by ebola, I said for once, just for once it’s absolutely fine if those countries increase their fiscal deficit.”
8. Wide shot, photographers and reporters
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Christine Lagarde, IMF Managing Director:
“It was due in 2012. It is overdue in 2014. And, I strongly hope that under President Obama’s leadership and with the right understanding of the parties, the role of the IMF warrants that ratification.”
10. Med shot, IMF officials with photographers
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Christine Lagarde, IMF Managing Director:
“On behalf of our entire institution, I would like to express gratitude to the Peruvian authorities, because I know that there is work under way, there is a major construction being completedy hopefully by July 2015 so that we can all be together under one roof on the occasion of the annual meeting in Lima.”
12. Wide shot, end of briefing

Storyline

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said Finance Ministers and Central Bank governors gathering for the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington this week will discuss how to break through a prolonged period of low growth and generate more growth and more jobs.
Addressing a news conference October 9 at the start of the Meetings, Lagarde noted that the IMF’s World Economic Outlook had trimmed its growth forecasts for the global economy.
She said “we have also now alerted to the potential risk of recession in the euro zone. And, I think that risk has been identified as a probability of about 35 plus percent – anywhere between 35 and 40 percent -- which is not insignificant. We are not suggesting that zone is heading toward recession but we are saying that there is a serious risk that that happen if nothing is done.”

On Tuesday, the IMF released the World Economic Outlook (WEO) report, which cut growth projections to 3.3 percent in 2014 and 3.8 percent in 2015.

The report said the weaker growth outlook for 2014 than expected in April 2014 reflects setbacks to economic activity in the advanced economies during the first half of 2014, and a less optimistic outlook for several emerging market economies.

Lagarde praised progress in Greece, but said the country would likely benefit from further assistance.

Lagarde said “we are very pleased to see that Greece has significantly improved its position. From a fiscal point of view, on the financial markets, there has been significant improvements. But we also believe that, going forward and in order to deliver a continuous satisfactory outcome, the country would be, in our view, in a better position if it had precautionary support.”

She opened her briefing by noting the IMF’s 70th anniversary and saying the Fund is in a strong position to respond to challenges the world is facing, noting that she had met earlier with country representatives and officials coordinating responses to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

Largarde also said “looking after and trying to help the three West African countries that are hit by Ebola, I said for once, just for once it’s absolutely fine if those countries increase their fiscal deficit.”

She added this was an indication of how the IMF mobilizes resources and revisits traditional standards. Last month the IMF provided a total of $130 million of emergency financial assistance to Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, the three West African countries at the center of the Ebola epidemic.

Lagarde noted that many low-income and developing countries are posting impressive growth rates. Such thriving economies make the Ebola epidemic even more threatening, she observed, because its effects might jeopardize economic recovery and waste hard-won gains.

She also stressed the need for approval of the IMF’s 2010 quota and governance reforms. She said she hoped that the U.S. authorities would understand the importance of having an IMF that is representative of the global economy.

“It was due in 2012. It is overdue in 2014. And, I strongly hope that under President Obama’s leadership and with the right understanding of the parties, the role of the IMF warrants that ratification.”

Lagarde closed her briefing by looking ahead to next year’s annual meetings in Lima, Peru.

“On behalf of our entire institution, I would like to express gratitude to the Peruvian authorities, because I know that there is work under way, there is a major construction being completed hopefully by July 2015 so that we can all be together under one roof on the occasion of the annual meeting in Lima,” she said.