Resolving the debt crises in Europe and beyond will be an “urgent” priority for the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde said Wednesday as she began her term as the agency’s director.
While there has been a great deal of focus on euro zone countries such as Greece, other nations including the United States and Japan are facing debt problems that also need to be closely examined, Ms. Lagarde said.
“It’s a very broad-based issue that needs to be looked at as a matter of urgency,” Ms. Lagarde said in her first press conference since taking the helm of the IMF for a five-year term on Tuesday.
Ms. Lagarde pledged to continue the reforms of her predecessor, Dominique Strauss—Kahn, which include taking a more comprehensive approach to world finances, involving factors such as unemployment and social issues.
Strauss-Kahn resigned in May after being arrested in New York on charges of sexual assault. Ms. Lagarde was French finance minister before taking on her new post.
