IMF Chief Economist: US, China must work together “cooperatively, productively” on trade

In a recent interview with China’s state news agency, Xinhua,  the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Chief Economist Gita Gopinath notes that the prospect of trade tensions is one of the key risks to the precarious global recovery next year.

Key Quotes:

If the world’s two largest economies can work together “cooperatively and productively” on trade, it will benefit themselves and the whole world.

Global growth is “sluggish” with many downside risks.

We continue to flag important downside risks for global growth.

We are seeing the effects of the trade tensions more starkly on global trade and on industrial production and manufacturing while noting that the effects on financial markets are somewhat mixed.

there are concerns “about where the trade policies headed, what’s happening with global growth, that’s generating volatility in the market,”

On the other hand, because most central banks in the world are being very accommodative, interest rates are very low and that’s helping keep stock prices high.