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  • 22-02-2021 16:18

EU/Presidency: EU member states' response to pandemic 'truly impressive' - Christine Lagarde


Brussels, Feb. 22, 2021 (Lusa) – European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde on Monday today highlighted the "truly impressive" response of countries to the Covid-19 crisis, with support measures weighing in at 4.5% of the eurozone's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

"For all of us, the last year of the pandemic has been an extraordinary challenge and at all levels the public policy response has been truly impressive: national responses have led the policy effort, with fiscal measures representing on average 4.5% of eurozone GDP," she said.

Speaking via videoconference at the European Parliamentary Week - an initiative co-hosted by the European Parliament and the Portuguese Parliament as part of the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) - she noted that "the strength of the European response to the crisis has depended crucially on the strength of national and European responses in all areas: monetary, fiscal, supervisory and regulatory".

However, Christine Lagarde warned that "the pandemic is not over yet" and for this, "it will be imperative to maintain policy alignment for what lies ahead".

The challenge is to immediately "bring the economy quickly back to potential, while using the momentum of the recovery to transform economies".

"It will not be about returning to the pre-pandemic level," she stressed.

In her view, the focus of the economic recovery should rather be based on "reducing the damage caused by the pandemic, such as the permanent reduction in employment, which one in five companies is considering", but also on taking advantage of the context "offered by the pandemic, which has driven a multi-year leap in digital progress and brought a new focus on sustainability".

To enable this recovery in the eurozone, Christine Lagarde also assured that "the ECB will continue to support all sectors of the economy, preserving favourable financing during the pandemic period".

"Across Europe, people are still struggling with the economic and social consequences of the pandemic and it is still highly uncertain how the next phases of the pandemic will unfold," she concluded.

Created in 2012, this 'parliamentary week', which aims to help ensure the "democratic accountability of executives in the field of economic governance and fiscal policy in the EU", takes place this year in virtual form due to the restrictions in place in Europe because of the Covid-19 pandemic, but features a wide range of senior policymakers, including the leaders of the three EU institutions.

Earlier this month, the European Commission again revised downwards the pace of economic recovery this year in Europe, which "remains in the grip of the Covid-19 pandemic", estimating that the eurozone will grow by 3.8% and the European Union by 3.7%.

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