- BERLIN: The acting chief of the International Monetary Fund warns of spillover effects from Europe’s sovereign debt crisis that could affect the bloc’s core economies.
John Lipsky said in a speech in Berlin there is “particular concern” that European leaders must sustain their effort to tackle the crisis in the peripheral economies.
He said that the economies troubled by the debt crisis are “very small economies” but there is concern about potential spillovers into the core economies.
Lipsky also defended the “extremely ambitious adjustment programs” adopted for Portugal, Ireland and Greece, saying they were essential to restore the countries’ underlying problem of a lack of competitiveness.