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11/7/14

France, Germany and Italy urged to follow Spain’s lead to revive eurozone

France, Germany and Italy must agree to jolt the eurozone economy back to life or face a long period of low growth, low inflation and an increasing debt burden, according to a stinging report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The Paris-based thinktank, which counts the world’s major trading states as members, said Spain and other smaller countries had shown the way by pushing through reforms to reorganise their economies while the core nations were locked in discussions over how to lift growth.

Speaking before a meeting of world leaders at the G20 summit in Brisbane, Australia, this month, the OECD’s chief economist said eurozone governments needed to support efforts by the European central bank to lower borrowing costs in addition to boosting public spending on education and infrastructure investment.

Catherine Mann said: “Fiscal spending in the near term to support innovation, education, and infrastructure will both support near-term growth as well as turn back the legacy of low potential output and complement the engines of trade and investment.”

She praised Spain and other countries hit hard by the 2008 financial crisis for restructuring their banking sectors and driving down labour costs to revitalise the economy. She said the continent’s core countries needed to unlock the potential for growth in their economies with a similar programme of reform.

EU-Digest

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