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IMF urges developed nations to open up their markets

The International Monetary Fund has called upon the industrialised countries to open up their markets to exports from developing countries.

A communiqué adopted at the end of the meeting of Finance and Development Committees, IMF said industrialised countries have a major role to play by following policies that ensure sustainable, non-inflationary growth for the world economy.

Concerted actions by both rich and poor countries are needed to achieve the international development goals, it said.

The communiqué urged the developed countries to step up their aid to developing countries besides implementing the debt relief for poor countries.

The meeting reiterated that debt relief to highly indebted poor countries should be additional to official development assistance, which should be provided on concessional or grant terms.

While welcoming the substantial progress made in implementing the enhanced HPIC initiative with 22 countries having reached a final decision, the meeting noted that it would lead relief to the tune of $34 billion to countries in Africa.

Taken together with traditional debt relief mechanisms, a total of $53 billion will be provided to these countries.

A communiqué adopted at the separate meeting of the finance committee asked the IMF to strengthen its capacity to respond to financial crisis in member countries and to minimise their adverse impact in the light of its present experience in handling the global economic slow down.

The fund, in collaboration with the World Bank, should also provide technical assistance to member countries to strengthen their economic, financial and legal systems against money laundering.

The committee while emphasising that money laundering is an issue of global concern requiring concerted action on the part of governments, asked the fund to promote a more effective regulatory and supervisory environment to help prevent this financial crime.

The committee also reaffirmed the overarching objective of streamlining of the financial institutions and to make conditionality more efficient, effective and focussed and welcomed the progress made in this respect.

''The objective should be to provide maximum scope for countries to make their own policy changes while ensuring that the fund's financing supports needed policy adjustment to safeguard its resources,'' the meeting said.

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