IMF says US bond sell-off may reflect extra quantities on market

The International Monetary Fund is carefully watching global bond market developments after a recent U.S. selloff, the fund's top economist said, adding that a tightening of financial conditions was among risks facing the global economy. IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said the selloff of U.S. bonds could reflect a mismatch in supply, rather than serious concerns about further hikes in interest rates or heightened concerns about long-term risks. "It might just reflect the fact that there is more of it, and so the price is adjusting," he said in an interview about the IMF's quarterly global outlook update released on Tuesday in Marrakech, Morocco, during the annual IMF and World Bank meetings.