PARIS, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), on Friday warned against the dangers of protectionism.

In an interview published Friday by Le Parisien-Aujourd'hui en France newspaper, the IMF chief said: "Current uncertainties are not economic or financial, they are political."

Lagarde also defended the role of globalization in poverty reduction, saying "It (globalization) has provided advantages, the first order of which is a profound reduction of poverty."

According to the IMF chief, globalization has brought 300 million people out of poverty and reduced inequalities between countries.