IMF chief hails Beijing-led bank project
Print Edition
WRAPPING up a five-day visit to China, International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde said she welcomed Beijing’s creation of a new infrastructure bank — an institution that has drawn support from Europe and skepticism from Washington.
A number of European countries have announced their intention to sign up for the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the moves by Britain, Germany, France, Italy and others have caused consternation in the United States and Japan, which lead the World Bank and the Manila-based Asian Development Bank respectively.
Some view the new bank as a competitor to those two institutions.
In a statement issued after she met Premier Li Keqiang, Lagarde hailed Beijing’s “impressive efforts” in areas including combating corruption, controlling pollution and “clearing the path to even more engagement with the world.”
“I welcomed China’s various initiatives in this area, including through the newly established Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank,” she said.
On Sunday, Lagarde had said the IMF would be “delighted” to cooperate with the new bank, according to Xinhua news agency.
Sri Mulyani Indrawati, managing direct of the World Bank, has also hailed the AIIB, telling Xinhua: “Any new initiative that will mobilize funding in order to fill the infrastructure gap is certainly welcome.”
China has embraced European eagerness to take part in the new body, with state media claiming that the US risks being sidelined.
Beijing touts the US$50 billion institution as a tool to help meet gaps in financing needs for regional development in Asia.
But US officials have expressed caution amid worries the institution could undermine the World Bank.
Lagarde also said the IMF welcomed Beijing’s longstanding drive to include its yuan in the IMF’s basket of reserve currencies, adding: “We will work closely with the Chinese authorities in this regard.”
Chinese leaders have said the economy is in a delicate transition from decades of double-digit annual growth to a new, slower and more sustainable model, the “new normal.”
Lagarde said structural reforms pledged by China’s leaders in 2013 “should lead to slower, safer, and more sustainable growth — with a focus on innovation and entrepreneurship — which will be good for China and its people, and good for the world.”
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