Managing Director's Opening Remarks at the IMF's 12th Michel Camdessus Lecture sitecoreitem

Managing Director's Opening Remarks at the IMF's 12th Michel Camdessus Lecture

September 18, 2025

Excellencies, honored guests, ladies and gentlemen: welcome to the IMF and the twelfth annual Michel Camdessus Central Banking Lecture-our flagship event on central banking.

It is my great honor to introduce today's distinguished speaker, Chang Yong Rhee, Governor of the Bank of Korea.

To the world, Governor Rhee is a highly respected central banker. To the Fund, he is also very much a member of the family. Welcome home, Chang Yong!

As Director of the IMF's Asia and Pacific Department, Chang Yong provided intellectual leadership in a dynamic region confronting profound economic challenges. He was early in highlighting critical structural forces such as demographic shifts that continue to shape the region. Chang Yong was also a pioneer in integrating surveillance and capacity development, which helped increase the traction of Fund policy advice in the Asia-Pacific region.

As Governor of the Bank of Korea, Chang Yong was ahead of the curve in raising interest rates to curb inflation. He skillfully steered the institution through challenging times, including the credit crunch of 2022. And he has led the Bank of Korea to the forefront with pioneering work on digital money and AI.

Chang Yong also plays a pivotal role globally as a board member at the Bank for International Settlements, where he chairs the committee on the global financial system.

Chang Yong has called central banking an "art," one that can only be mastered through a judicious blend of economic rigor and pragmatic judgment. He has shown that it can be done.

Chang Yong, I fondly recall the trip we took together to Thailand---it was my first to Asia as Managing Director of the IMF. The focus of our discussions was on the Integrated Policy Framework. The IPF is also the focus of Chang Yong's lecture today.

***

Before we hear from Chang Yong, let me very briefly set the scene for this audience.

Point one: we live in a world of profound uncertainty, with tectonic shifts in global trade and ongoing geopolitical tensions-all of which can have a major impact on growth and inflation.

Point two: even in a world of profound change, capital is still flowing across borders seeking good investments and strong returns. And history has told us that open capital accounts can help channel savings to where they are most needed, improving growth prospects while also creating strong incentives for prudent policy in recipient economies. Equally, flexible exchange rates remain fundamental in helping countries adjust to shocks.

Point three: even so, the day-to-day reality for policymakers in many economies is often one of difficult tradeoffs in managing volatile capital flows while preserving macroeconomic and financial stability.

Given this ground reality, there can be benefits in using additional policy tools beyond fiscal policy, the policy interest rate, and microprudential regulation and supervision focused on the banking industry.

Recognizing this, the Fund's Integrated Policy Framework gives policymakers much-needed guidance on how best to deploy an expanded toolkit-when needed-to help manage shocks, strengthen resilience, and reinforce credibility.

These IPF tools include foreign exchange interventions, macroprudential policy measures, and capital-flow management measures.

Our Framework provides guidance on how to ensure that any resort to these tools is well calibrated, minimizing unintended side effects. And we emphasize that using these tools must never substitute for necessary fiscal and monetary adjustments.

At the Fund, we also recognize that some countries may run out of conventional monetary policy space as the trade shocks and other factors weigh on growth going forward. This may push countries to consider unconventional monetary policy tools.

We stress, however, that central bank independence and clear communication are both critical, and doubly so when resorting to unconventional monetary policy tools.

***

Chang Yong, I understand you are an avid golfer, so you certainly know that one cannot play a whole course with just one club. The art of golf, I am told, is to read the course, feel the wind, and choose the right club at the right time.

With that, let me just say that we very much look forward to your insights on how best to play the complex course that stands before us.

Dearest Chang Yong, please, the floor is yours.