CHINA-IMF: BRI
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FT reported (April 8, 2018) that IMF Chief Ms Christine Lagarde has warned China on Belt and Road to the risks of burdening recipients of its infrastructure finance with heavy debts. She told a conference in Beijing that while China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) could provide much-needed infrastructure, “ventures can also lead to a problematic increase in debt, potentially limiting other spending as debt service rises, and creating balance of payments challenges”. She also added that another challenge was “ensuring that Belt and Road only travels where it is needed” — an oblique reference to problems of insider-dealing. “With any large-scale spending there is sometimes the temptation to take advantage of the selection and bidding process”. Announcing the IMF-China training centre, Ms Lagarde lauded an effort to bring BRI decision-making under the umbrella of a newly created International Development Cooperation Agency, which is to be in charge of China’s foreign aid.
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