When you are running the 42 kilometres of a marathon
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While there seems to be a wide consensus on long-term strategies for reform, there is less agreement how painful such policies should be in the near-term given the persistent risk of recession and surging unemployment.
"One lesson though is clear from history," Lagarde said. "Reducing public debt is incredibly difficult without growth. High debt, in turn, makes it harder to get growth, so it's a very narrow path to be taken."
"It's probably a long path, and one for which there is probably no shortcut, either. It's a path that needs to be taken," she said.
Lagarde said monetary policies must encourage banks to lend, while spending cuts are adjusted to the "right pace." Debts must be brought down in the medium term, and structural reforms are needed to sustain growth in the long term, she said.
"That's the package that is needed," Lagarde said. "Let us not delude ourselves. Without growth, the future of cheap nfl jerseys the global economy is in jeopardy."
"It's a marathon, not a sprint. It could take years," Lagarde said in an on-camera debate hosted by the British Broadcasting Corp. where she good naturedly traded jibes with German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble.
"When you are running the 42 kilometres of a marathon, you can't just stop and turn around and go the other way," Schauble retorted, accusing those who favour going easy on debt reduction of backpedaling on their commitments.
"Increasing public debt does not enhance growth, louis vuitton bags it damages growth," he said.
Lagarde contended that it was not an issue of reversing commitments but of adjusting the pace to suit each country's unique situation.
The IMF has scaled back its global growth forecast for 2012 to 3.3 per cent from 3.5 per cent, and has warned louis vuitton sunglasses that even its dimmer outlook might prove too optimistic if Europe and the United States fail to resolve their crises.
On Friday, the fund said economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region slowed to 5.5 per cent in January-June. That is well above the global average, but the lowest for the region since the financial crisis in 2008. The slowdown is largely because of sluggishness in Europe and the U.S. It also noted weakness in China and India, whose dynamism had helped counter weakness elsewhere.
"The global recovery is still too weak. coach bags Job prospects for untold millions are still too scarce, and the gap between the rich and the poor is still way too big," Lagarde said.
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