With the global unemployment level touching 202 million and another 404 million people set to join the labour market next decade, job-boosting economic policies are back on the agenda of leading nations.
Finance ministers and central bankers of leading nations are scheduled to attend the IMF-World Bank meeting in Washington on April 11-12 to take stock of the global economic situation and discuss policy initiatives needed to counter slowdown.
“Creating a more dynamic, job rich global economy remains our collective goal. For this, policymakers should manage the recovery more actively and reinforce their cooperation to minimize negative spillovers and promote financial stability,” IMF stated in its Global Policy Agenda, which is to be presented at the fund-bank meet.
IMF managing director Christine Lagarde has said an extended period of low inflation in the advanced economies especially in the euro area, would hurt both growth and jobs. Urging advanced nations to synchronise the fiscal adjustment (for reducing debt) and monetary normalisation (winding back of easy money policy), Lagarde said policy actions are required across the board to come out of the low growth. “This means that all countries need to step up structural reforms ? in labour markets as well as product and services markets ? and well-targeted investment,” she said.
In its World Economic Outlook, the IMF has forecast global economic growth to rise from 3% last year to 3.6% in 2014 and further to 3.9% in 2015 with advanced economies expected to grow 2.2% this year and EMEs including China and India expanding by 4.9%.
The IMF agenda comes weeks after the International Labour Organisation expressed concerns over high unemployment.
According to a ILO report, about 202 million people across the world were without a job at the end of 2013. Despite a moderate pick-up in growth this year, the number of unemployed people worldwide is projected to rise by 4.2 million in 2014 and by 3 million in 2015. “It will therefore be necessary to create more than 600 million jobs across the world to accommodate both the currently unemployed and newcomers to the labour market,” ILO said.