“The International Monetary Fund is expected to contribute just €13 billion ($17.07 billion) to a second Greek aid package worth €130 billion, leaving euro-zone governments to provide a much bigger share of funds than they did in the euro zone’s three earlier bailouts, people familiar with the situation said” [WSJ]
Christine Lagarde
Christine Lagarde: There’s No ‘I’ In Teamwork But There’s Something That Looks Like An ‘I’ In “WWIII”
By Bess Levin
“There is no economy in the world, whether low-income countries, emerging markets, middle-income countries or super- advanced economies that will be immune to the crisis that we see not only unfolding, but escalating at a point where everybody would actually have to focus on what it can do,” Lagarde said. If the international community doesn’t work together, “the risk from an economic point of view is that of retraction, rising protectionism, isolation,” Lagarde said. “This is exactly the description of what happened in the ‘30s and what followed is not something we are looking forward to.” [Bloomberg]
There’s a new sheriff in town. Continue reading »
The French economy minister said it was futile to continue castigating bankers for their role in the financial crisis, arguing that attention should shift to making sure the banks returned to their core role of financing growth. “It’s time for accountability from everybody, not for bashing,” Lagarde said at a banking conference in Paris on Tuesday. [Dealbook]
France is none too pleased with Germany’s unilateral action yesterday to ban bearish bets on certain financial companies and European government’s bonds. Christine Lagarde, the French finance minister blasted the Germans for stepping out of school yesterday, a move she thinks could dampen liquidity on the European bond market.
Lagarde has ruled out imposing its own ban on naked shorting, however it is still enforcing a ban on shorting certain financial stocks that was put in place in September 2008. Sweden and the Netherlands also came out against the Germans yesterday.
“I think we should really request the views of those governments affected by this measure. We did not envisage doing this. And for liquidity reasons, it is useful to continue functioning without banning short selling,” she said.
Backlash builds against German ban [FT.com]
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