London — The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) urged the world’s top central banks on Sunday to keep lifting interest rates but warned escalating trade tension between the US and China could turn into a dangerous downward spiral. The new head of the BIS, former Mexican central bank chief Agustin Carstens, spoke to Reuters as the central bank umbrella group delivered its first annual report under his watch. It comes after a volatile five months for the global economy in which 2017’s financial market rally shuddered to a stop and US President Donald Trump caused widespread dismay by imposing hundreds of billions of dollars worth of trade tariffs. 'Dangerous dynamic' "We are entering into a dangerous dynamic where these type of protectionist issues start having side effects on currency markets and financial flows," Carstens said. "We can start a very dangerous spiral that at some point can really affect the growth of the world economy and financial stability." For now, though, t...
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