IMF chief calls for policy cooperation in inter connected world

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde on Thursday urged better policy coordination among its member countries as the different economies are highly inter-connected with each other. "If there is one key word from our perspective, it's cooperation between the countries," Lagarde said at a press conference prior to the annual meetings of the IMF and its sister agency World Bank scheduled to kick off on Friday. "I would hope that we have those Washington Moments as often as possible," Lagarde said in response to questions from Xinhua, referring to the "Washington Moment" she coined last year calling for joint efforts of IMF members to help raise additional lending resources for the global lender. When countries devise their fiscal policies, monetary policies and structural and financial reforms, "they do so together," she said. "We know, for having studied the inter-connections between those economies, that the transmission channels are very efficient, " Lagarde added. The financial system is a global one that needs to be addressed in a "very coherent way" with much cooperation between the players, she noted. "There is a win to be had by all members if they play that cooperation game," she added.