IMF's Strauss-Kahn urges the need of global cooperation to weather crisis

IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn appealed the US, Britain and other countries to cooperate on new policies and regulations in the wake of the financial crisis.

As he claimed at the annual Herziliya Conference, at the onset of the crisis, world leaders were "scared" and agreed to work together to cancel out the crisis. However, at present, countries are formulating policies on their own.

"It is absolutely impossible to get out of the crisis without global solutions," Strauss-Kahn said, “I am not sure that's the route on which we are."

He has a firm belief that such plans, like US president plan to curb activities at major banks, particularly betting in financial markets with their own money, will not work. He urges to countries’ cooperation. He also said Britain was also committed to pressing ahead with financial regulations.

The global economy is recovering faster than expected, leading the IMF to revise its growth estimates higher. But growth is being led by Asia and emerging markets, according to Strauss-Kahn. He notes, meantime, that growth in West was being fueled largely by public spending, .

He also considers, that until private demand is strong, it is difficult to talk about a real strong recovery.

Strauss-Kahn still cautioned against countries developing stimulus measures targeting to combat the downturn. Exiting too late can lead to higher debt but exiting too early may increase the risk of a double-dip recession, he considers. He also said, such a case would pose large problems since policymakers have already used all their tools.