Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (CHEN RAN)

Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), met the press at the conclusion of the G20 Summit in Hangzhou, China, on September 5, urging action to deliver on the G20's Hangzhou commitments.

Through the Hangzhou Action Plan, the G20 leaders expressed their determination to address challenges including a prolonged sluggish economic growth with a set of forceful policy actions, she said.

Lagarde said the G20 had agreed to identify and prioritize reforms that provide the biggest growth impulse for each country, an area in which the IMF is actively engaged.

Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (CHEN RAN) 

"The G20 endorsed several initiatives underway to support the stability and resilience of the international financial architecture. This included support for further strengthening of the global financial safety net, with an adequately financed IMF at its center and equipped with a more effective toolkit. This would also involve even greater cooperation between the IMF and regional financing arrangements such as the Chiang Mai Initiative," Lagarde said.

The IMF head appreciated the G20's call for broad participation of the organization's membership in maintaining access to bilateral and multilateral borrowing arrangements. "This should help provide confidence that the IMF will continue to have the capacity to address the needs of its membership."

Lagarde said the G20 also welcomes the inclusion of the renminbi into the SDR (Special Drawing Rights) currency basket as of October 1, adding it is an important milestone that will help strengthen the international monetary system as well as China's role in the global economy.

Copyedited by Chris Surtees

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