IMF urges spending to tackle crisis
22-12-2008
The head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, says 2009 will be a really bad year for the global economy and that governments will have to spend more money to stimulate growth. He says US$1.2 trillion is needed to tackle the financial crisis. Mr Strauss-Kahn said he feared measures announced by the Group of 20 nations last month would not be enough. The IMF has already cut its forecast for global growth next year, and he said the next projection, due in January, would be even worse. Mr Strauss-Kahn was gloomy about the prospects for 2009. "I'm specially concerned by the fact that our forecast, already very dark... will be even darker if not enough fiscal stimulus is implemented," he said in an interview with BBC Radio 4. He said it would take a spending stimulus equivalent to about two percent of global Gross Domestic Product, or about $1.2 trillion to make a real difference.
