Global growth in focus

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde has warned the United States and many nations in Europe that they should focus more on growth and less on further trimming of national budgets ahead of their semi-annual spring encounters in Washington.

The meetings bring together the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the finance ministers and central bank governors of the world's 20 major economies,

"We need growth, first and foremost," Lagarde said as officials were preparing Friday for an assessment of the global economic recovery.

The IMF praised the progress made by the eurozone in lowering deficits, shoring up its bailout mechanism and forging a path towards a banking union.

Loosening fiscal discipline?

But the body also said a lot remained to be done to enhance citizens' confidence in the national economies of the 17-member single-currency bloc.

"There has to be enough strengthening as well as restructuring of the banks within the eurozone," Lagarde told reporters in Washington. "That should hopefully unleash the credit that is so much need for smaller companies and households to be able to invest again."

EU Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said Friday Europe would consider slowing down its budget consolidation course as it aimed to provide more growth incentives.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble for his part warned against a let-up in efforts to follow through with fiscal reforms. Germany, he said, wanted to see binding commitments from the G20 nations to bring down public deficit and debt levels.

hg/ipj (Reuters, dpa, AFP, AP)