IMF supports Fed decision against stimulus taper

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde voiced her support Thursday for the US Federal Reserve's decision not to cut its stimulus, saying that was what the IMF recommended. "For the moment, it's clearly the approach that we've always recommended," she said, a day after the Fed stunned markets by not cutting its $85 billion a month bond-buying program. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke had spoken of a potential cut to the program since May, but the IMF had repeatedly cautioned against pulling in too early and too quickly, wary of the impact it would have on the global economy. Bernanke said Wednesday that the Fed had decided to wait for more signs of strength in the economy and the jobs market before reducing its bond buys, which he had in June predicted could be completely wound up by mid-2014. Lagarde told reporters that was what the IMF thought was the right course. "The IMF has always said... that it should be gradual, that it should be based on data with clear indication on what the criteria would be" for tapering the stimulus. "We said it should be well-communicated, and we advocated a dialogue." "So clearly the decision that was communicated yesterday, and the various comments made by the chairman, show that it's exactly what we at the Fund have advocated."