World Bank, IMF challenged by anti-globalization wave

WASHINGTON: Global finance leaders on Thursday publicly confronted the rising unpopularity of trade liberalization, saying world economies needed to strive for more inclusive growth.

With Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump leading a surge of anti-free trade sentiment in the United States, and Britain voting to secede from the European Union, top central bankers and finance ministers were pressed to defend long-standing ideology at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund annual meetings.