IMF's Lagarde urges EU to complete banking union

FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - Speaking at a conference in Paris today, International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde urged EU countries to speed up the process of tightening fiscal ties in the area in order to facilitate oversight and reduce contagion.

She praised the efforts made so far in creating the banking union but stressed that it should be finalized and that "speed is of the essence." ECB's easy monetary policy should not be the only means of stabilizing the situation in the Eurozone, Lagarde pointed out. She stressed the need for an effective risk-sharing mechanism and a backstop for the resolution process for banks.

"We very much think of the euro area as a beautiful ship that has been built, nurtured for the soft seas, but which is not yet completely finished for the rough ones," the IMF head said.

Also speaking at the press conference, which focused on the creation of the EU fiscal union, French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said that France saw a need for drawing up a road-map for the creation of a Eurozone federal budget.

Debt Crisis Timeline

Follow the chronology of events that affected currency markets since the onset of the financial crisis.

TimelineJS was created and built by VéritéCo and the Knight News Innovation Lab