Reuters: IMF chief says bank union needs to be completed quickly

10 September 2013

IMF chief Christine Lagarde urged eurozone governments to make quick progress on their proposed Banking Union, in order to put the bloc's crisis definitively behind it.

European efforts to construct a joint backstop for the region are stumbling ahead, with France and Germany split on key pillars of the system, which is supposed to rebuild confidence in the eurozone's banks. "We very much think of the euro area as a beautiful ship that has been built, nurtured .. for the soft seas, but which is not yet completely finished for the rough ones", Lagarde said at a conference in Paris.

"A lot has been done in relation to Banking Union. If I have a message today it is that that particular part of the ship needs to be finished, needs to be completed and speed is of the essence." She said governments could not count exclusively on the easy monetary policy of the European Central Bank to stabilise the eurozone's debt crisis and that the foundations of better governance, of which Banking Union is a part, were vital.

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