BlackRock chief urges fiscal stimulus as consumers are hurting

Singapore

THE world is at a "pivot point" in the economic cycle, where governments must step in to augment central bank action with fiscal stimulus, says Larry Fink, chairman and chief executive of BlackRock investment management company.

Monetary stimulus, he said, stabilised the world post-2008, but eight years of rock-bottom interest rates - and now negative rates - are starting to hurt the consumer. His prescription is a "heavy dose" of infrastructure investment that will create jobs, stimulate private sector investment, and eventually narrow the yawning income gap that is causing widespread discontent in many countries.