IMF: China, India Have Room For Fiscal Stimulus
Baku, January 31 (AZERTAC). Asia has so far proved resilient to the European sovereign-debt crisis and slowing global growth, and countries in the region have room to take growth-boosting steps in case of a sharp downturn, the International Monetary Fund said.
China and India could increase fiscal stimulus, while the Bank of Japan could boost asset purchases, Anoop Singh, director of the IMF's Asia and Pacific Department, told a briefing Monday in Washington that was webcast to Asia.
The fund doesn`t expect a "hard landing" in China, Singh said, while China mission chief Nigel Chalk said the country's property prices are stabilizing and the sector is "properly deflating."
China`s authorities recognize the need to shift economic growth more to domestic demand, and a shift toward personal spending and away from investment could help sustain growth, the officials said.
Japan has made a "good start" on fiscal reform with its plan to double the consumption tax to 10% by 2015, but this alone "won't get us there" in terms of reform, said Japan mission chief Jerald Schiff. Singh said the IMF thinks Tokyo wants to continue gradually raising the consumption tax to 15% after 2015.
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