(Adds details from conference call)
WASHINGTON, July 23 (Reuters) - IMF member countries agree a stronger Chinese currency would boost domestic consumption but are split over how much it would contribute to rebalancing growth in China, a senior IMF official said on Thursday.
Mission chief for China Nigel Chalk said IMF staff believed
a stronger
Given the global economic climate, they did not say exactly how much they thought it was undervalued, he told reporters.
"But we do see a stronger renminbi as an important part of the broader policy package," Chalk said on a conference call.
The IMF assessment on China's economy was delayed for three years as Beijing pushed back on changes to IMF rules on currency surveillance, which it saw as a U.S. ploy to enlist IMF support in its campaign for a stronger yuan.
In a move widely seen as trying to mend ties with China, the IMF reversed guidelines on currency assessments, saying it would no longer label currencies "fundamentally misaligned."
Chalk said the changes in guidelines for staff had made it easier to conduct open discussions with countries like China.
He also said the loosening of monetary policy in China since late last year was "appropriate" and "well calibrated" but there were risks that it could further spur credit growth.
"As a result, going forward once we see evidence that the recovery is more firmly established we would favor a phasing out of monetary policy stimulus prior to fiscal policy stimulus," Chalk said.
Chalk said there was some scope for reorienting some of China's fiscal stimulus away from infrastructure spending toward measures that would help stimulate private consumption. (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by James Dalgleish)