IMF, OECD flag danger of trade protectionism

Tokyo

FINANCE ministers and central bank governors from around the world gathering in Washington next week for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank annual meetings will focus on the causes of the continuing slowdown in global growth, and on what role slowing trade growth is playing in growth stagnation.

Newly released reports by the IMF and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) offer sometimes conflicting views on whether it is the trade slowdown that has caused the global growth deceleration, or vice versa.

Both agree, however, that unless policymakers can keep trade protectionism at bay, and take n…