Financial Times FT.com

IMF urges greater focus on housing

By Chris Giles in London and Krishna Guha in Washington

Published: April 3 2008 22:11 | Last updated: April 4 2008 01:17

Central banks should pay greater attention to housing markets when setting interest rates, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday, becoming the latest body to challenge the once-dominant view that monetary policy should avoid trying to damp booms and busts in property prices.

The comments came in an analytical chapter in the latest World Economic Outlook that suggests that many European countries are vulnerable to a substantial housing market correction.

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