There is a longstanding jibe that IMF stands not for International Monetary Fund, but rather for “it’s mostly fiscal”. That epithet has seemed less generally apposite for a while. Of course, the fund has continued to complain about fiscal incontinence in crisis-hit countries, such as Greece or Argentina. But, in its broader surveillance, it has been relatively relaxed about fiscal policy since the financial crisis. That, however, was the world of “low for long” or even “lower for longer”. This is no longer the world in which we live. The fund has duly changed. Gita Gopinath, first deputy managing director, has sounded the alarm, calling “for a renewed focus on fiscal policy, and with it, a reset in fiscal policy thinking”. The IMF has become “mostly fiscal” again.
长期以来，人们嘲讽IMF不是代表国际货币基金组织(International Monetary Fund)，而是“it’s mostly fiscal”（主要是财政问题）的缩写。一段时间以来，“主要是财政问题”这种说法似乎不那么贴切了。当然，IMF仍继续抱怨希腊或阿根廷等受危机打击的国家的财政失控。但是，自金融危机以来，在其更广泛的监督中，它对财政政策变得相对宽容。然而，那是一个“长期保持低利率”、甚至“更长时间保持更低利率”的世界。这已经不是我们生活的世界。IMF也适时作出改变。第一副总裁吉塔•戈皮纳特(Gita Gopinath)敲响了警钟，呼吁“重新关注财政政策，同时重启财政政策思维”。IMF再次变成了“主要是财政问题”。