China rejects need for emerging markets bailout

China said Thursday that there is currently no need to draw up bailout packages for emerging countries hit by capital outflows and currency devaluations, but urged rapid reforms of their economies. China also said it would not use stimulus policies to respond to short-term market fluctuations when these affected its economy. India and Brazil complain that a move by the US to end its easy-money stimulus programmes has sucked foreign investments out of their countries and dragged down their currencies. Chinese Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao told reporters at the G20 meeting in Saint Petersburg that the economic fundamentals of these countries remain sound and that they have the means to handle the problem themselves. And while he acknowledged that that reasons for the current economic problems faced by the so-called BRICS leading emerging economies are external, he also said that internal structural problems were at the origin of the strains. The term BRICS refers to Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. "Therefore we think that currently all BRICS countries do not need special bailout plans but economic structural reforms are necessary," he said. Brazil has experienced a drop of its currency to the lowest levels against the dollar since December 2008. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said ahead of the summit that he would urge fellow leaders at the summit to pursue an "orderly exit" from their stimulus measures to limit damage to emerging economies. Meanwhile, Zhu also signalled that China will stop turning to stimulus programmes to deal with any market fluctuations, saying that they only serve to distort the market. "In future, we will not roll out stimulus plans to deal with short-term market fluctuation problems. They only distort markets and distort the internal dynamism of economies," he said.