IMF Urged to Tackle Imbalances with Top Nations
By Krishna Guha
FT.com
April 18, 2006

As part of its eight-point agenda for economic reform, the Institute of International Finance (IIF), a lobbyist organization representing 345 international financial institutions, urged the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to meet with the world’s 11 most economically powerful countries to advocate for policy changes that will reduce global economic imbalance.

Some of the recommendations IIF made included setting target ranges for the most important global currencies, such as the dollar, euro, yen, and Chinese renminbi; exercising caution when these countries lend to emerging markets; and monitoring how each country’s economic policies affect the world’s financial system.

The IIF also organized a committee of experts on emerging market finance to “monitor developments in emerging market lending and its own principles for lender-borrower relations.” The committee is chaired by Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank; Henrique de Campos Meirelles, governor of the Central Bank of Brazil; and Toyoo Gyohten, former Vice-Minister for Finance of Japan.

The IMF’s governing body, the International Monetary and Financial Committee will meet this Saturday in Washington at the IMF’s annual spring meeting.