IMF'S KOEHLER: U.S. officials should be able to ward off an economic hard landing via stimulative monetary and fiscal policy, with benefits for the world's economy as a whole, IMF Managing Director Horst Koehler argued in a commentary in Monday's FT. "In the United States, there is room for maneuver in both monetary and fiscal policy, to ensure that the current weakening of activity is transformed into a soft landing rather than a recession," Koehler wrote. He termed last week's surprise Fed rate cut a "timely and appropriate way to strengthen U.S. and global growth prospects."