IMF needs to be forceful in resolving euro crisis – Purisima

MANILA, Philippines - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) needs to be as “forceful” in helping to resolve the euro crisis as it had been during the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said.

Purisima, who attended the recent IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in Tokyo, Japan, said ministers from emerging markets expressed concerns over the lingering crisis in Europe.

“There were a lot of discussions about the global economy especially ministers from emerging markets who were a bit concerned that issues in Europe were not being resolved and addressed directly. We had a lot of discussions in that area,” Purisima said in an interview.

He said institutions such as the IMF could help shape discussions in the Euro zone to help the region emerge from the crisis.

Purisima said that during the meetings, officials from emerging markets expressed their hopes that the crisis in the Eurozone would be resolved soon.

“It is the business of everyone, given that its global and everyone is affected by challenges of everyone and in emerging markets we still have a lot of poverty to address,” Purisima said.

In the case of the Philippines, many European countries are host to many overseas Filipinos working in various fields in Europe. These include health care, accounting, hotel and restaurants and in the maritime industry.

During the IMF-WB meetings, there were also a lot of discussions on how Latin America and Asia can contribute to the growth of the global economy.

As a starting point, he said the two continents could improve economic ties, which could greatly benefit the Philippines.

“I said that historically the Philippines was gateway of Latin America to Asia. I think that’s an opportunity for the Philippines given that from a cultural and religious standpoint, we are close to Latin America. Maybe we can establish ourselves as gateway of Latin America to Asia,” he said.