Tokyo (dpa) - World finance ministers said on Saturday that global
economic growth had slowed and called for more effective measures to
restore confidence.
"Global growth has decelerated and substantial uncertainties and
downside risks remain," they said on the final day of the annual
meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Tokyo.
"We need to act decisively to break negative feedback loops and
restore the global economy to a path of strong, sustainable and
balanced growth," the IMF's steering committee said.
"We are in a better position today regarding policy footing than 6
months ago," said committee chair Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who is also
Singapore's deputy prime minister and finance minister.
"We are getting growth restarted and achieving fiscal
consolidation, especially in advanced economies," he said.
The committee also said that further steps, including a banking
union, were needed to bring the eurozone banking crisis under
control.
"In the euro area, significant progress has been made," the
committee said. "But further steps are necessary. We look forward to
timely implementation of an effective banking and a stronger fiscal
union to strengthen the monetary union's resilience, and structural
reforms to boost growth and employment at the national level."
ECB chief Mario Draghi said it could take another year to
implement reforms on supervising European Union banks.
"It is very important that we have this institutional step done by
January 1," Draghi said. "So we can prepare ourselves to run the
supervision and make it operational. But this may well take another
year. We think that by January 2014 the new framework will be in
place and operational."
He added: "We have to move in time, but you have to do it well."
On Tuesday, the IMF cut its global growth forecast to 3.3 percent
for 2012 from a July projection of 3.5 percent and to 3.6 percent
for 2013 from 3.9 percent estimated three months ago. It warned that
growth would be downgraded further if European and US policymakers
fail to stem their economic crises.
