Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, John Lipksy, has been explaining the fund’s call to developing countries to focus on building efficient economies rather than targeting high growth rates. “It is important to target consistent high growth. But the fundamentals must be right," Mr Lipksy told Joy Business’ Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah who is in Washington participating in the Spring Meetings of the World Bank and IMF. The fund in its World Economic Outlook report for 2011 is cautioning developing countries against “overheating” as they only target high growth rates. It warns that this may cause them to suffer the same fate as the developed countries that were struck during the recent world economic crises. Mr. Lipsky explains that while Ghana and other developing countries require consistently high growth rates they must first focus on getting the fundamentals of stability right. “If an economy is relatively inefficient, attempting to grow at 10 per cent a year is impossible and if policies are geared at that kind of growth, if you end up producing run-up in inflation, huge budget deficits, huge external deficits, balance payment deficits, you are guaranteed to induce the kind of distortions that result in” serious long-term economic problems," he said. Source: Joy Business/Ghana