IMF should withdraw from Troika in the long run, says Germany
IMF wasn't created to focus on Europe, says Germany
Berlin: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) should focus on its core duties once current aid programmes for troubled euro countries end, Martin Kotthaus, German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble’s spokesman, said on Monday.
“While it’s helpful for the European Union (EU) to have the IMF on board in carrying out programmes for countries such as Greece, the IMF wasn’t created to focus on Europe," Kotthaus said.
“t’s right and good that the IMF is with us now," Kotthaus said at a government press conference in Berlin on Monday. “In the long run, the IMF really has other duties than to prop up the Europeans time and again."
Kotthaus made his comments after Schaeuble told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper on Sunday that Europe should solve its own problems in the long run, echoing European Stability Mechanism chief Klaus Regling.
There’s no discussion of ending the IMF’s involvement in the so-called troika, which also comprises the European Commission and the European Central Bank, while programs are under way, Kotthaus said. “The fund has unmatched expertise in reducing sovereign debt and implementing structural reforms," Kotthaus said. Bloomberg
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