Role of trade as growth driver is threatened: IMF, WTO, World Bank

[April 10, 2017]  BERLIN (Reuters) - The role of trade as a driver of global growth is threatened by a slowdown in trade reform since the early 2000s and an uptick in protectionism after the financial crisis, the International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization and World Bank said on Monday.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde holds a speech to present the report "Making Trade an Engine of Growth for All: The Case for Trade and For Policies to Facilitate Adjustment" in Berlin, Germany, April 10, 2017. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke

Unveiling a joint report in Berlin entitled 'Making Trade an Engine of Growth for All,' the three organizations urged governments to address the negative effects that global trade has had on manufacturing jobs, workers and communities, especially in advanced economies.

"Recent evidence on the effect of import competition on manufacturing jobs in certain locations in Europe and the United

States demonstrates how harsh such impacts can be in the absence of accompanying policies," the IMF, WTO and World Bank said.

"The role of trade in the global economy is at a critical juncture."

The report said a lack of reform to make trade more beneficial to broader sections of societies has been a drag on productivity and income growth.

(Reporting by Gernot Heller; Writing by Joseph Nasr, editing by Emma Thomasson)

[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.