IMF: Recession's Worst Not Over
The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) says the world economy hasn't seen the worst of the recession. Among the factors influencing this observation:Other signs of the fragile state of the global economy: China would not see a rapid rebound and South Korea's finance minister says its economy was still sliding, although the pace had slowed.
But in southern Italy, Group of Eight finance ministers meeting over the weekend describe their economies in the most positive terms since the collapse of U.S. bank Lehman Brothers last September.
Pressure has been building in the G8, increasingly from fiscally conservative nations Germany and Canada, for plans to wind down stimulus as soon as it is no longer needed. But many G8 ministers are at odds over how quickly to start rolling back state spending plans and hiking interest rates.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner indicates the United States isn't likely to tighten policy soon. Writing in an op-ed piece in the Washington Post on Monday, Geithner says a sweeping financial regulation reform plan to be released this week would target capital requirements, securitization and other problem areas blamed for the global financial crisis. The largest and most interconnected firms could expect to face more stringent requirements.