IMF chief discusses eurozone crisis with Pranab

Special Correspondent NEW DELHI: International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde on Monday had a meeting with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and discussed the global economic environment, particularly in the wake of the continuing eurozone debt crisis and the role that emerging economies need to play in the changing world. Talking to the media after her meeting with Mr. Mukherjee here, Ms. Lagarde said: “We particularly discussed the euro area situation and we also discussed the role of IMF and importance that emerging market economies have to play within [the] organisation.” There were also elaborate discussions on the general economic situation, she said. After her China visit, the IMF chief's two-day visit to India has come at a when the sovereign debt turmoil in Europe has led to a fragile economic recovery in the globalised world and has impacted the emerging economies also in a significant way although most of them have performed better than the developed world. In this scenario, Ms. Lagarde's visit to China and India is aimed at boosting the financial resources of the multilateral agency, especially by way of contributions from the two emerging Asian majors. She would be participating in a conference on ‘China and India: Sustaining high quality growth' here on Tuesday which is being co-organised by the IMF.