What is IMF’s watchdog’s criticism?

The International Monetary Fund’s own watchdog has criticized the agency saying it called off austerity too soon after the financial crisis. A new report from the IMF’s independent valuation office says the advice was less effective in promoting recovery and was detrimental to emerging markets. The report says that much of the research including the IMPs own suggested that government tax and spending policies are particularly effective following a financial crisis. Instead the IMF advised using interest rates and the policy on its quantitative easing which, the report argues, were less likely to work.

A day earlier, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said the recapture of Jurf al-Sakhar, about 50 kilometers south of Baghdad, was a "fatal blow" against the Islamic State group. The Sunni extremists had occupied the town since July. In Monday’s other attack, a car bomb exploded in a central Baghdad neighborhood filled with shops and restaurants, killing at least 10 people. In another development, the US military said Monday it launched 11 airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria in the past day.