All IMF members aligned on need for free, fair trade: Carstens

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Members of the International Monetary Fund are aligned on the need to achieve free and fair trade, Agustin Carstens, chairman of the IMF's steering committee, said on Saturday. "What we try to do in these meetings is to strike a positive constructive balance. The use of the word protectionism is very ambiguous," Carstens told a news conference, when asked why the International Monetary and Financial Committee's statement removed a past pledge to resist all forms of protectionism. "What we try to do is to basically focus on what we can achieve and what our final goal is. The final goal is to take advantage of trade ... Everyone is aligned that we need free and fair trade," said Carstens, who is also the head of Mexico's central bank. (Reporting by Leika Kihara and David Lawder; Editing by Paul Simao)