In
an interview with France's RTL broadcaster days before she takes
up her post, Lagarde singled out Germany and the Netherlands as
countries that could deploy their surpluses to help growth.
"Countries, in particular those with the budget space, have not
really made the necessary efforts, and I'm thinking obviously of
countries that are in persistent budget surplus right now, the
Netherlands, Germany and a certain number of others in the
world," Lagarde said.
"Those that have the room for manoeuvre, those that have a
budget surplus, that's to say Germany, the Netherlands, why not
use that budget surplus and invest in infra-structure? ... Why
not invest in education, why not invest in innovation, to allow
for a better re-balancing?"
There is disagreement within the euro zone, reflected inside the
ECB, over how best to revive economic growth, which is still
sluggish a decade after the global financial crisis, while other
major economies have bounced back.
Some in the euro zone favour a conservative approach, relying
primarily on the current monetary policy. Others, including
Lagarde's native France, believe an increase in investment is
the answer.
(Reporting by Benoit Van Overstraeten; writing by Christian
Lowe; editing by Jon Boyle, Larry King)
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