Lagarde asks the Greeks to pay taxes
Managing Director International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, has called on Greeks to pay their taxes and has admitted to being concerned about the situation in sub-Saharan Africa than in the eurozone.
“In regard to Athens, I think of all those people trying to avoid taxes all the time. (…). I think they should collectively help, paying all their taxes,” Lagarde said in an interview published today in the newspaper “The Guardian”.
The managing director admitted he was more concerned about the situation of children in sub-Saharan Africa, where they receive only two hours a day of teaching in Greece.
“I think most children in schools in small towns in Niger receiving two hours a day of teaching, sharing a chair for three (children) and who are eager for education. I have them in mind all the time “he said.
“Because I think they need more help than the population in Athens,” said Lagarde.
Asked if European countries had good years and it’s time to return the money received, Lagarde said, “OK”.
He admitted that the Greeks think both public and private service in not paying their taxes.
At the same time, the international body responsible insisted he has no intention of softening the terms imposed in the austerity package to Greece.
Following these measures, Greece has been in recession for several years and debt and unemployment have increased.
Lagarde was a few days in the UK, where he said that Greece has to “do more” to overcome the crisis and must accept that there is a “price” to pay for membership of the eurozone.
He also insisted that the euro has to make a greater effort to stimulate growth, not through stimulus programs, but structural reforms of their economies.
Category: Forex
