IMF warnings on economy will fall on deaf ears among world leaders

The IMF is seen as a hand-wringing liberal institution making nuanced and technical suggestions in an age of broad-brush solutions

Christine Lagarde, boss of the International Monetary Fund, is expected to deliver a hard-hitting speech at the organisation's annual meeting this week, urging world leaders to push ahead with reforms to turn the current global economic recovery into something more sustainable.

Lagarde, who is now in her second four-year term as managing director of the Washington-based lender of last resort, will talk about a lack of education, training and productivity. She will, no doubt, develop the argument she put forward in London a fortnight ago that regulators need to be wary of lenders outside the mainstream repeating the same errors as the banks a decade ago.