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Ms. Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), issued the following statement today in Tokyo:
“It has been a great pleasure to visit Japan for the first time since the memorable 2012 IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings. I would like to express my appreciation to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for his warm welcome and the fruitful discussions that we have had. I also had valuable and stimulating exchanges with women leaders, representatives of Keidanren (Japan Business Federation), private sector economists and academics.
“I congratulate Prime Minister Abe for the progress made during the first phase of Abenomics, driven by monetary and fiscal stimulus. What is crucial now is to move to a second phase, in which growth becomes self-sustained and led by the private sector. For this to happen, all the three arrows need to be successfully launched. In practice, this means more forceful implementation of growth-enhancing structural reforms and the development of a concrete medium-term fiscal consolidation plan.
“While recognizing the progress, we share the view that more needs to be done, including to promote women’s participation in labor force. I applaud Mr. Abe’s leadership and the authorities’ efforts in empowering women. We all know that Japanese women are among the highest educated and most talented in the world. They have the ability, the potential, and the desire to contribute even more.
“In this context, I was encouraged and inspired by what I heard at the first World Assembly for Women in Tokyo – WAW! Tokyo 2014. I stressed the importance of unleashing the economic power of women in order to boost countries’ growth potential, by changing economic policies, laws and institutions, as well as attitudes and culture. I am convinced that Japan is committed to embrace inclusion for a stronger and brighter economic future. [http://www.imf.org/external/np/speeches/2014/091214.htm]
“I would like to thank the government and the Japanese people as always for their kindness and warm hospitality. Japan has long been one of the strongest and most committed international partners for the IMF. We look forward to continuing our strong collaboration in the future.”
