Economics
IMF Urges Post-Pandemic Stimulus to Avoid Depression Mistake
- Fund’s chief economist backs broad action to boost recovery
- Central banks can keep rates low if inflation is below target
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The International Monetary Fund wants policy makers to avoid repeating the Depression-era mistake of ratcheting back budget deficits. Instead, it’s urging them to ramp up fiscal stimulus when the coronavirus contagion starts to abate.
“Once the recovery has happened and we are past the pandemic phase, for advanced economies it would be essential to undertake a broad-based stimulus,” IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath told reporters on Tuesday. “This would be even more effective if it were coordinated across all the advanced economies.”