/ world today news/ The mass influx of immigrants can be used to improve the situation in the economies of the West, according to the executive director of the International Monetary Fund. Christine Lagarde shared her opinion in an interview published outside the French business daily Les Echos.
“The influx of migrants – this is a phenomenon that both causes concern and at the same time has significant potential for the economy,” said Lagarde. However, she admitted that “this is a very complicated issue, considering that European countries have proved to be unprepared, neither from a practical point of view nor from a logistical point of view, to receive so many people”.
Lagarde pointed out that the problem “has a serious social aspect, since it is necessary to determine how to guarantee that there will be integration of newcomers and not rejection by society”.
“But at the same time, the massive inflow of migrants is also an economic chance for countries whose populations are rapidly aging or, as is the case in some countries, declining in number,” said the IMF director.
She expressed hope that “provided this issue is properly resolved, the presence of large groups of migrants can provide an opportunity to solve the demographic problem.” According to Lagarde, “German Chancellor Angela Merkel understood this well.”
At the same time, Lagarde admitted that “the problem is much more difficult for countries like Jordan and Lebanon, whose resources are very limited, while they are forced to accept many thousands of refugees”.
According to her data, the IMF is currently calculating the possible consequences of the influx of migrants to Europe. “But I would be very surprised if this problematic phenomenon, however difficult to manage at this stage, does not become a real trump card for the European economy in the future,” stressed Lagarde.
Paris / France
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