Online Event: A conversation with International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde

Κ. Λαγκάρντ: Η Ελλάδα χρειάζεται λιγότερο χρέος
Δεν συμφωνεί με την άποψη του υπουργού Οικονομικών της Γερμανίας Βόλφγκανγκ Σόιμπλε πως αυτό που χρειάζεται η Ελλάδα είναι αύξηση της παραγωγικότητας και όχι ελάφρυνση του χρέους, δήλωσε σήμερα η γενική διευθύντρια του ΔΝΤ Κριστίν Λαγκάρντ μιλώντας σε εκδήλωση του American Enterprise Institute στην Ουάσιγκτον, όπως μεταδίδει στην ιστοσελίδα του ο Μιχάλης Ιγνατίου.

Ερωτηθείσα από την ιστοσελίδα Mignatiou.com για την πρόοδο της δεύτερης αξιολόγησης τους ελληνικού προγράμματος η επικεφαλής του ΔΝΤ δέχθηκε να απαντήσει παρά το γεγονός ότι το θέμα της ομιλίας της ήταν η αύξηση της παγκόσμιας παραγωγικότητας.

“Φυσικά η Ελλάδα έχει βελτιώσει την παραγωγικότητα της οικονομίας της τα τελευταία χρόνια. Δεν εναρμονίζομαι με τον Σόιμπλε ο οποίος λέει πως η Ελλάδα χρειάζεται αύξηση παραγωγικότητας και όχι ελάφρυνση χρέους. Εμείς στο ΔΝΤ θεωρούμαι πως χρειάζεται λιγότερο χρέος”, είπε σχετικά.

Πάντως, κάνοντας εμμέσως αναφοράς στις τρέχουσες διαπραγματεύσεις είπε πως η Ελλάδα εξακολουθεί να χρειάζεται μεταρρυθμίσεις σε ασφαλιστικό και φορολογία για να βελτιωθεί περαιτέρω η παραγωγικότητα της οικονομίας της.

Η ίδια θέλοντας να καταδείξει πως η πολιτική του ΔΝΤ στο ελληνικό ζήτημα δεν έχει αλλάξει ξεκαθάρισε πως το Ταμείο για να μετάσχει στο ελληνικό πρόγραμμα ζητά να υπάρχουν δύο πυλώνες, ήτοι μεταρρυθμίσεις, αλλά και μια ελάφρυνση χρέους συμβατή με τις ανάγκες της Ελλάδος.

 
A distinguishing feature of the global economy since 2008 has been a marked slowing in productivity growth across most of the world’s economies.

Please join AEI as Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), discusses a new study by IMF staff explaining the reasons for the global productivity growth slowdown and outlining the policies that might place the global economy on a faster growth path.

 
Speaker Biographies
Arthur C. Brooks is president of AEI. He has served as president since January 1, 2009. He is also the Beth and Ravenel Curry Scholar in Free Enterprise. Before joining AEI, Dr. Brooks was the Louis A. Bantle Professor of Business and Government in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, where he taught economics and social entrepreneurship. Before his work in academia and public policy, he spent 12 years as a classical musician in the United States and Spain. Dr. Brooks is a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times and the bestselling author of 11 books on topics including the role of government, fairness, economic opportunity, happiness, and the morality of free enterprise. His latest book is the New York Times bestseller “The Conservative Heart: How to Build a Fairer, Happier, and More Prosperous America” (Broadside Books, 2015). He has also published dozens of academic journal articles and the textbook “Social Entrepreneurship” (Prentice Hall, 2008). Dr. Brooks has a Ph.D. and an M.Phil. in policy analysis from the Pardee Rand Graduate School. He also holds an M.A. in economics from Florida Atlantic University and a B.A. in economics from Thomas Edison State College.

 
Desmond Lachman joined AEI after serving as a managing director and chief emerging market economic strategist at Salomon Smith Barney. He previously served as deputy director in the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Policy Development and Review Department and was active in staff formulation of IMF policies. He has written extensively on the global economic crisis, US housing market bust, US dollar, and strains in the euro area. At AEI, Dr. Lachman is focused on the global macroeconomy, global currency issues, and multilateral lending agencies.

 
Christine Lagarde is managing director at International Monetary Fund (IMF). She completed high school in Le Havre, France, and attended Holton Arms School in Bethesda, Maryland. She then graduated from law school at University Paris X and obtained a master’s degree from the Political Science Institute in Aix en Provence. After being admitted as a lawyer to the Paris Bar, she joined the international law firm of Baker McKenzie as an associate, specializing in labor, antitrust, and mergers and acquisitions. A member of the Executive Committee of Baker McKenzie in 1995, she became the chairman of the Global Executive Committee of Baker McKenzie in 1999 and subsequently chairman of the Global Strategic Committee in 2004. She joined the French government in June 2005 as minister for foreign trade. After a brief stint as minister for agriculture and fisheries, in June 2007 she became the first woman to hold the post of finance and economy minister of a G7 country. From July to December 2008, she also chaired the Economic and Financial Affairs Council, which brings together economics and finance ministers of the European Union, and helped foster international policies related to financial supervision, regulation, and global economic governance. As chairman of the G20 when France took over its presidency in 2011, she set in motion a wide-ranging work agenda on the reform of the international monetary system. On July 5, 2011, Ms. Lagarde became the 11th managing director of IMF and the first woman to hold that position. On February 19, 2016, the IMF Executive Board selected her to serve as IMF managing director for a second five-year term starting on July 5, 2016. She was named Officier in the Légion d’honneur in April 2012.