Finance ministers and central bank governors brushed aside the global rout in stock markets this week at the annual IMF meetings in Bali, Indonesia, but the event was overshadowed by geopolitical tension and few were confident of calmer waters ahead.
Although the global economy is strong, there were fears that financing problems in emerging markets were spreading from specific countries to become generalised capital flight and that global institutions did not have the cohesiveness to deal with problems as they arise.
Christine Lagarde, managing director of the IMF pleaded for nations to “sail together” to keep the global economy on track, but there were many signs that co-ordinated action is becoming more difficult.