By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : India has again pressed for organisational and governance reforms in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a “fragile phase of repair and rebuilding” after the global financial crisis.
“While the worst may be behind us, the period of tribulation is not over yet,” Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in his address to IMF at the Fund-Bank annual meetings here Saturday with governance reforms high on the agenda.
“We have to remain vigilant about threats to the fragile recovery materialising in this fragile phase of repair and rebuilding,” he said noting the world “addressed the challenges posed by the recent global crisis with the strength of international resolve and coordination”.
Describing the Fund as an anchor in global collective endeavour, Mukherjee said: “Some progress has been made towards modernising the mandate of the Fund in the context of the changing global economic realities, but more needs to be done.”
“In particular, we must prepare the Fund for its evolving role in the international monetary and financial architecture through the organisational and governance reforms that would make it relevant, legitimate and effective in the exercise of its responsibilities in a changing world,” he said.
“Our response gave us the confidence that together we can secure global financial stability in an environment of balanced and sustainable economic growth,” Mukherjee said.
But “there is a long haul ahead of us as we strive to recoup the loss of output, employment and welfare as the global crisis took its toll, but the key lesson of the crisis is also that collectively and cooperatively, backed by political will, we can do what it takes to realise our goal which in the common interest of all,” he said.
(Arun Kumar can be contacted at [email protected])