The governor of the People's Bank of China (PBOC) on Saturday
called on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to enhance its
monitoring, analysis and forecasting of global and regional
economies and financial markets.
Speaking at the 10th meeting of the International Monetary and
Financial Committee, the policy-making body of the IMF, PBOC Governor Zhou
Xiaochuan said surveillance is the Fund's core responsibility and
the major means of assuring that IMF plays a key role in promoting
the stability of the international monetary and financial
system.
The IMF should steadily improve the quality of its surveillance
and raise its effectiveness in response to changes in surveillance
targets and their environments, said Zhou.
The IMF's surveillance priorities should continue to focus on
assuring the macroeconomic, monetary and financial stability of
member countries, all regions and even the world, he said.
Economics and financial markets with a systemic impact --
particularly the major developed countries and the international
centers -- need to be a priority of Fund's surveillance.
He called on the IMF to continue helping and supporting
developing countries in promoting structural reform, enhancing
capacity building, improving domestic markets and strengthening
their financial sectors.
Zhou also said the IMF's most recent comprehensive reviews of
means to help low-incoming countries (LICs) achieve economic growth
and poverty reduction are highly significant.
The Chinese government continues to support the economic growth
and poverty reduction in LICs and is actively contributing all it
can to debt relief in the poor countries, he added.
(Xinhua News Agency October 3, 2004)