IMF's Lagarde warns of spillover risks from recent volatility

[JAKARTA] Recent volatility in global financial markets shows how rapidly risks can spill over from one economy to the next, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in Jakarta on Wednesday.

"What has been demonstrated in the last few weeks is how much Asia is at the core of the global economy, and how much disruption in one market in Asia can actually spill over to the rest of the world," Christine Lagarde told a conference in Indonesia's capital.

Ms Lagarde said the world economy was facing headwinds from China's rebalancing, Japan's slow growth, falling commodity prices and uncertainties surrounding higher US interest rates.

Policies need to be tailored to each country, Ms Lagarde said, but mostly they would involve strengthening defences with prudent fiscal policy, reining in excessive credit growth, aligning exchange rates to act as shock absorbers, and maintaining adequate foreign exchange reserves.

"The authorities and the supervisors constantly have to remain vigilant particularly when there are those new and innovative products...those risks have to be under the watch of the supervisors, be they in traditional banking, be they in these disruptive banking systems or in these shadow banking systems," Ms Lagarde said.

REUTERS