IMF shifts gears, moves into post-crisis mode

The International Monetary Fund declared it was shifting from rescue efforts to helping put the world economy back on stable ground after more than a year of global economic turmoil.

Outlining its work plan for the next six months, the IMF said it would help countries devise strategies to withdraw the excess liquidity they poured into their economies to stabilize the financial system and avoid a global depression.

IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn called the IMF work plan "ambitious but achievable" and also noted this was the opportunity for the fund to deliver on its expanded global role and show it can be relevant.

"We must take care not to lose the momentum," said Strauss-Kahn, who during the past year introduced changes in IMF lending policies and instruments that made it easier for crisis-hit countries to turn to the Fund for aid.

Among the IMF's top priorities over the next months, the IMF said it would develop a set of principles that would ensure an orderly and cooperative exit from fiscal, monetary and financial sector support.

It said it would deliver a paper in January outlining the principles for fiscal adjustment in advanced economies, the role of tax policy in fiscal consolidation and measures to address fiscal challenges arising from aging populations.

While the fund tries to ensure a smooth global transition, it will also focus on its own mandate as a lender and overseer of economic policies.

From a closed-door conference at its IMF Washington headquarters suggested it was ready to hammer out details on exit strategies.

But isn't the IMF still too early in the fragile recovery to withdraw support from the global economic turmoil?