IMF backs Labour on Economy
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has backed the government's approach to managing the economy. Despite calls from some to cut public debt aggressively now, the IMF believes that would be too soon. The report is called Exiting from crisis intervention policies.
The IMF believes that most advanced economies will need to continue with policies designed to stimulate their economies this year and into 2011. Winding down those policies may be painful and will take some time. But the essential message is clear - we have been through a huge financial crisis and it's going to take a while to get things back to normal. The world economy remains in a fragile state. We should not risk recovery by tightening policy too much too soon.
Labour's steady course on managing the economy is increasingly being seen as the right one. The Conservatives meanwhile would risk plunging the UK back into recession by cutting government spending aggressively this year. At the end of the day, that means more unemployment.
Stephen Beer, 24/02/2010