23 Jan 2013

IMF / PRESS CONFERENCE

International Monetary Fund Managing Chief Economist, Olivier Blanchard, said Wednesday (23 January) that even if optimism is in the air, the global economy is still facing considerable challenges ahead. IMF

Posted at: January 23, 2013 6:53 pm

Duration: 02:35

Available in: SD

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STORY: IMF / PRESS CONFERENCE
TRT: 2.35
SOURCE: IMF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 23 JANUARY 2013, WASHINGTON DC

SHOTLIST:

1.	Wide shot, dais 
2.	SOUNDBITE (English) Olivier Blanchard, IMF Chief Economist: 
"We should be under no illusions. There remain considerable challenges ahead. And the recovery, this will be clear when you see the numbers, continues to be slow, indeed much too slow. So, put poetically, we may have avoided the cliffs, but we still face high mountains."
3.	Wide shot, press conference
4.	SOUNDBITE (English) Olivier Blanchard, IMF Chief Economist: 
"The agreement reached at the end of the year in the United States, 2012, does not solve the fiscal problems by any means, but the extent of fiscal consolidation in 2013 should be roughly appropriate."
5.	Med shot, reporters taking notes 
6.	SOUNDBITE (English) Olivier Blanchard, IMF Chief Economist: 
"In Europe, progress on a number of fronts, from the OMT program put in place by the ECB, to the start of a banking union, has convinced financial markets, and I think other observers as well, that the firewall was indeed there, and that Europe was committed to the Euro."
7.	Wide shot, reporters at the press conference
8.	SOUNDBITE (English) Olivier Blanchard, IMF Chief Economist: 
"Financial market optimism should not lead to policy complacency; I think will be the main message. We've seen this pattern in the past and we always worry when it comes back again."
9.	Med shot, reporters taking notes 
10.	SOUNDBITE (English) Olivier Blanchard, IMF Chief Economist:
11.	"This increasing talk of currency wars is very much overblown. You know, countries have to take to take the right measures to take their own economies back to health. This implies a combination of fiscal policy, monetary policy, and other measures. And this has implications for the exchange rate. An so I think, to the extent that we think that policies are appropriate, then the implications in terms of exchange rates are also appropriate."
12.	Med shot, reporters at the Press Conference
13.	Med shot, Blanchard leaving the press conference room

STORYLINE:

International Monetary Fund Managing Chief Economist, Olivier Blanchard, said Wednesday that even if optimism is in the air, the global economy is still facing considerable challenges ahead.

Blanchard told reporters at the launch of the World Economic Look Update that the recovery "continues to be slow, indeed much too slow. So, put poetically, we may have avoided the cliffs, but we still face high mountains."

He noted that the agreement reached at the end of the year in the US does not solve the country's fiscal problems, but the extent of fiscal consolidation in 2013 should be "roughly appropriate."

He also noted progress on a number of fronts in Europe, from the Outright Monetary Transaction (OTM) program put in place by the European Central Bank (ECB), to the start of a banking union. These steps, he said, have convinced financial markets that the firewall was indeed there, and that Europe was committed to the Euro.

But Blanchard warned that financial market optimism should not lead to policy complacency.

With progress on these fronts, as well as on financial reforms, cautious optimism may indeed be justified.

When asked about currency wars, Blanchard said that talk of currency wars was overblown, noting that economies needed to take measures to help their economies and that "to the extent that we think that policies are appropriate, then the implications in terms of exchange rates are also appropriate."