The International Monetary Fund is not in principle opposed to emerging markets using capital controls to limit inflows of hot money that risk fuelling new asset price bubbles, Dominique Strauss-Kahn said on Monday.

“I have no ideology on this,” the IMF managing director said. He said capital controls were “not something that come from hell” but said the fund would not recommend them as a standard prescription either – as they carried costs and were usually ineffective.