John Lipsky, the second-ranking official at the IMF, said G20 nations deputies showed confidence about the global economic recovery, even taking into account challenges and risks.
“They’re mainly confident that there’s a moderate recovery under way globally,” Lipsky said yesterday after a G20 deputies’ meeting in the South Korean city of Gwangju.
There are “obviously risks and challenges, but things seem to be moving more or less in the line with our forecasts,” he said.
PHOTO: REUTERS
His comment came a day after Bank of Korea Deputy Governor Kim Jae-chun said the deputies discussed concerns that the recent volatility in financial markets may dim the immediate outlook for the global economy.
Global stocks rallied last week after three weeks of declines in the MSCI World Index on concern that the recovery from the worst recession in many decades may falter.
The US Federal Reserve may consider a second round of large-scale purchases of securities to stop the US falling back into recession, and the Bank of Japan expanded a bank loan program to buttress domestic demand last month.
Lipsky also said that the agenda for changes in the IMF’s board representation and quota system has made “good progress.” He declined to comment on European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet’s call for unity to protect seats.
Trichet yesterday urged EU countries to find a unified position over threats to the bloc’s influence at the IMF. The US is pushing to give emerging economies more say on the fund’s 24-seat board of directors.
The US rejection of a proposal last month to maintain the IMF’s executive board in its current form may force a reduction in the nine seats held by EU countries, including Belgium and the Netherlands.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique