A rare joint defence of the benefits of global trade has been mounted by the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and World Trade Organization as concerns grow about Donald Trump’s plans for the world economy.
The joint appearance yesterday in Berlin — which under German chancellor Angela Merkel’s leadership is emerging as the new capital of global free market liberalism — is an attempt to fight back against what the institutions fear is a slide towards greater protectionism since Mr Trump became US president.
The robust defence of multilateralism comes a little over a week before finance ministers and central bankers gather in Washington for the first biennial meetings of the IMF and World Bank since Mr Trump’s election last November.