Mood of relief after IMF/World Bank meetings, but doubts persist

AS the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank annual meetings in the Peruvian capital Lima drew to a close on Monday, the mood among the legions of government economic and financial officials, bankers and others attending was one of relief that - as one put it - "Armageddon has not arrived".

There were plenty of reasons for anxiety. Unconventional monetary policy has plunged global capital flows, exchange rates and stock markets into confusion while encouraging a massive build-up of corporate debt in emerging economies. Everyone in Lima was braced for a crash.

Meanwhile, to use the words of prominent Mexican banker Guillermo Ortiz, the centre of attention was China, appropriate for what historically has been known as the "Middle Kingdom". Many, he said, had expected to hear the worst about the world's second-largest economy, but in the event did not.