IMF happy to cooperate with China-led infrastructure fund
THE International Monetary Fund will be “delighted” to cooperate with the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), said IMF managing director Christine Lagarde yesterday.
Lagarde added that there is “massive” room for cooperation with AIIB on infrastructure financing.
The World Bank will also cooperate with the AIIB, Lagarde told a conference in Beijing.
Her comments come after a number of countries said they would participate in the new bank slated to start operations by the end of the year, even as others raised concerns over potential competition with other lenders.
The AIIB is a Chinese-backed development bank that will fund Asian energy, transport and infrastructure projects.
Set up in Beijing last year, the bank is seen as a rival to Western-centric financial institutions such as the World Bank.
The UK’s decision to become the Western economy to apply for the membership of the development bank drew the ire of Washington who questioned AIIB’s transparency standards and environmental and social safeguards. France, Italy and Germany have since followed the UK’s lead by also applying for membership.