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Lagarde hails ‘action oriented’ Aussies

Australia’s “action oriented” presidency of the G20 has been praised by one of the most powerful women in the world.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Treasurer Joe Hockey and Reserve Bank Chief Glenn Stevens have been singled out by International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Christine Lagarde for making the international policy-fest work.

“They were instrumental in fostering effective and productive discussions, and I look forward to working with them further over the course of 2014,” she told reporters on Sunday.

This is the first time the G20 Finance Ministers’ meeting has been held while Australia holds the presidency and is it a major forerunner to the leader’s meeting in November, to be held in Brisbane.

Ms Lagarde described Australia’s presidency as “action oriented” following two days of discussions that led to agreements to boost global growth by two per cent above the IMF’s current projected levels over the next five years.

This year the IMF predicts the global economy to grow by 3.7 per cent.

“We certainly have welcomed the focus on growth that the Australian presidency has identified as the rallying point for all economies, both advanced economies and emerging economies,” she said.

“Because the Australian presidency is clearly action oriented, we will continue to act and we will certainly see to the fact that the G20 members identify those reforms, identify those actions, that are needed to deliver that two per cent objective.”

Ms Lagarde said despite speculation to the contrary, a rift between emerging and advanced economies because of the effects of tapering stimulus in the US economy did not eventuate.

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