IMF, like Trump, says must help those left behind
The IMF has something in common with US President-elect Donald Trump: it recognizes the depth of negative feelings towards globalization and warns that those who have been passed over need help.
Trump has promised to spur a sharp increase in US growth and bring back lost manufacturing jobs, and though he has not explained how, his message resonated with voters.
The International Monetary Fund, the world's guardian of sound economic policies, also has recently stressed that in the global economy, "Growth has been too low for too long, benefiting too few."
IMF spokesman Gerry Rice declined to comment Thursday on any specific policies Trump has promised, saying that must wait until the new administration takes office and actually takes action -- the traditional Fund response to a change of government in one of its 189 members.
However, he clearly recognized the core of the Trump's message.
"We've also been emphasizing the need for inclusive growth," Rice told reporters, stressing that "it is important to "make globalization work better and work for everyone."
Open economies and trade "have delivered many benefits, and many were lifted out of poverty" and these policies have been "an engine of growth for the global economy," Rice said.
However, "clearly the more negative side effects of trade need to be taken more into account for those who feel left out or left behind."
This is a relatively recent position for the IMF, which through most of its history, including the Latin American economic crises of the 1980s and the Asian crises of the 1990s, has placed greater emphasis on cutting government spending no matter what the costs. Years of often violent protests in response to austerity promoted viewed as being imposed by the IMF caused a change of direction.
Rice stressed that in the $12 billion loan for troubled Egypt, which the IMF board is expected to approve Friday, "social protection measures ... are a cornerstone of the program, not an add-on or afterthought."