From Mr Kevin P. Gallagher.

Sir, Your report “IMF refuses to rule out use of capital controls” (November 3) is both welcome and concerning. It is welcome to hear the International Monetary Fund, now under Dominique Strauss-Kahn, reaffirm that it is not unequivocally opposed to capital controls to avoid asset bubbles and to tame the appreciation of the exchange rate in developing countries. However, it is concerning that Mr Strauss-Kahn is really saying that the IMF will simply tolerate capital controls but seldom recommend them. The reason, as he says in your report, is that “most of the time it does not work”.