Two days after Trump won election on a campaign marked by an anti-trade message, IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said it was too early to say whether Trump's trade and international economic policies would be damaging to global growth.
"It's too early to speculate," Rice told a regular news briefing. "We need to wait and see what the policies will actually be and we'll be making an assessment at that time."
Rice said the Fund believes trade has provided an engine of growth and has lifted many out of poverty, but the negative side-effects of trade and globalization, including job losses, need to be more effectively addressed.
"For those who feel left out or feel left behind, we need to have more policies that help to mitigate the negative impacts," he said.
(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
