Market watch.

Byline: Andrew McNulty

Market watch Beware of complacency. IMF CE Christine Lagarde sounded this warning at the China Development Forum in Beijing at the weekend. After collective efforts in the US and Europe, the world economy had stepped back from the brink, she said, and we had cause to be more optimistic, but optimism should not lull us into a false sense of security.

Lagarde referred to three economic and financial vulnerabilities that the world has to confront. First, financial systems are still fragile and high public and private debt persists in many advanced economies. In the euro area, public-sector and bank debt rollover needs 23% of GDP in 2012. Renewed …