WASHINGTON -- The recently concluded spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund focused on several key questions of concern to the international community: the prospects for sustaining global economic growth, reducing vulnerabilities in the international financial system, reducing poverty in the world's poorest nations, as well as the future direction of the fund itself.
In the discussions, various issues were raised, not the least of which were voiced by Asia, one of the world's most economically vibrant regions. These issues have since been echoed at meetings of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)-plus-Three finance ministers and at other international forums.
The rapid growth of emerging market economies in Asia has been a notable feature of the global economy in recent years. This growth has been led most visibly by China and, increasingly, India, but several other Asian countries play an important and vibrant role as well. The strong performance of these economies, combined with the continued dynamism of the United States, has helped sustain worldwide expansion, offsetting continued sluggishness in Europe and Japan, where growth has remained sporadic despite progress in bank and corporate sector restructuring.