"Without growth, the future of the world economy is in danger and perhaps the biggest obstacle will be the legacy of a huge public debt, now averaging 110% of total GDP, the highest level since the war”. The number one of the International Monetary Fund launched today a message against excess rigor, Christine Lagarde, which opened the annual meeting of the IMF and the World Bank in Tokyo.
“We have seen it and we are seeing it recently in the eurozone – continued Lagarde -. High debt makes growth more difficult. It is probably a long path that has no shortcuts, but which must be undertaken". The director of the IMF thus emphasized the need to combine the fight against the debt crisis with a return to growth, above all to curb the continuous increase in unemployment.
According to Lagarde it is also necessary to speed up the reform of a financial system which, “despite some progress, is still not much safer than in the days of Lehman Brothers”.
As for the Greece chapter, Lagarde had already stated the need to grant Athens a two-year extension to complete the austerity measures and achieve the deficit targets agreed with international creditors. Today, however, the German Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, replied to the change of course requested by the director of the IMF, reiterating that "there are no alternatives to the medium-term reduction of the debt of the States which is too high, for the euro and the euro area as a whole”.
