The President of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, on Thursday called for the implementation "
without delay
" of the European recovery plan, at a time when Hungary and Poland block its adoption by the EU.
Read also: Recovery plan: the risky game of Budapest and Warsaw
The European recovery plan called "
Next Generation EU
", "
must become operational without delay,
" said the central banker during a hearing before the European Parliament, before the Twenty-Seven meet during the day by videoconference to get out of this crisis.
“
We continue to be faced with serious circumstances, both from a health and economic point of view
,” Ms. Lagarde said at the start of her speech.
If she did not directly mention the veto of the two central European countries at European level, the Frenchwoman insisted on the need for this historic envelope of 750 billion euros "
to facilitate expansionary budgetary policies, particularly in the countries of the euro zone, which has limited budgetary space
”.
“
The response to the crisis so far has also been a powerful illustration of how monetary policy and fiscal policy can be mutually reinforcing under the current circumstances
,” she said.
To date, euro area governments have implemented fiscal measures representing more than 4% of euro area GDP in 2020 alone, in addition to those relating to social spending.
However, "
the weakness of demand and the increased risk of a delayed recovery justify the maintenance of the support of the national budgetary policies
" to prevent the economies from falling sharply, estimated Ms. Lagarde.
Read also: Budget: Brussels warns about the long-term impact of recovery plans
The ECB will approach the current phase of the crisis "
with the same approach and the same determination
" as in the first wave where it claims to have reacted "
quickly and vigorously
" to the consequences on the economies of the euro area, according to Mrs Lagarde.
Debt buybacks carried out as part of the “
PEPP
”
emergency plan
and giant loans to banks will remain “
the main tools for adjusting our monetary policy,
” she repeated.
The ECB will meet in early December to decide on a new package of measures to support the economy in the euro zone.