China's central bank governor says IMF needs improvement

Special Report: Boao Forum For Asia 2009

BOAO, Hainan, April 18 (Xinhua) -- The International
Monetary Fund (IMF) failed to give alarm or diagnosis, let alone remedies when
problems occurred in developed countries, said Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the
People's Bank of China (PBOC), here Saturday.

Zhou made the comment at a panel discussion during
the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) annual conference, saying that the IMF needs
improvement in this respect.

Zhou said he understood that it might be harder for
the IMF, a global organization, to make decisions.

"It is hard to imagine that any research institutions
could monitor every happening around each corner of the world," Zhou said,
noting that regional institutions might have more advantages in this field.

"International financial institutions need reform,
and have many weak points," said Zhou, adding that the combination of
international and regional organizations would be a good option.

Regional institutions such as the Asian Development
Bank, could also alleviate the impact of financial crisis through increasing
spending and boosting regional activities, he said.