Make or break for Europe’s passport-free Schengen area, says International Monetary Fund chief

The global economy growth rate in 2016 will not exceed 3%, Russian Economic Development Minister Alexey Ulyukayev said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Mexico’s central bank chief Agustin Carstens, who lost the contest with Lagarde to become International Monetary Fund managing director in 2011, said he’s not running for the post now and that she deserves a chance to finish her work.

“On China, I’ve heard for the last ten years that we are just about to see a hard landing, everybody here on this panel tells you, that we are not seeing a hard landing, we are seeing an evolution, a big transition which is going to be bumpy, which will offer some turbulences, we are going to get used to it and it is a very normal and proper way to actually move towards a more sustainable and quality growth, we all hope”.

George Osborne, Britain’s economic and finance minister, thinks a deal between his government and the European Union on a series of reforms to Britain’s membership of the 28-country bloc is possible in February.

“Markets have been volatile this year, against heightened uncertainty over China’s economy and oil prices”, Kuroda said.

“[It] is simply the worst start of any year on the record on financial markets ever, it’s simple”, Thiam said. A lot in people in the market believe demand in China is decreasing.

Junior interior minister for migration Yiannis Mouzalas said the report contained “falsehoods and distortions” but Ms Mikl-Leitner said temporary exclusion was a real possibility.

“It will be massively in our interest that we bring China at multilateral bodies and we support their currency and they become part of the mainstream global economy”, he said.

“The world has not been very good over previous centuries at accommodating rising powers and it has often led to unhappy outcomes”, Osborne said bleakly.

Her critics, who generally prefer not to be quoted by name, acknowledge the former national synchronized swimming team member’s political skills as a negotiator and spokeswoman for the International Monetary Fund but say she is not an original economic thinker, unlike Strauss-Kahn.

Asked whether she would back capital controls by China for a period, Lagarde avoided a direct reply, but said: “Certainly a massive use of reserves would not be a particularly good idea…”

Her political skills will be tested before her first term ends in July in convincing the International Monetary Fund board to continue to lend some money in Greece’s third bailout program. Officials from China, France, Germany, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the United States have already made known their support for Ms Lagarde.