The International Monetary Fund officers believe that the slowdown in the eurozone economy is the main reason for the downward revision of the global GDP’s growth forecast. According to the survey data, at the beginning of the crisis peripheral countries scotched economic statistics, but now the stagnation in Germany is halting economic development. Some experts believe that the only solution is a global reform aimed at the highest possible consolidation of France and Germany, the eurozone’s largest economies. "The major task facing Pisani-Ferry (the French government’s Commissioner-General for Policy Planning) and Henrik Enderlein (a key leader of a reformist group of German economists) is to create a new reform strategy for Europe’s two largest economies. Economists should focus on structural reforms in France and increased investment in Germany," the IMF report reads. An effective reform strategy would have to balance the need for budget restraint and macroeconomic stability with growth-enhancing policies. However, despite the willingness of the ECB to use all available instruments, positive effects could be short-lived, so the situation calls for drastic measures. "In fact, Germany can conduct a stimulative policy, but Germany must trust that its agreement to loosen the eurozone’s fiscal belt will not lead to a slowdown of structural reforms in France. And, as experience has shown, Germany and France can have a major impact on the whole Europe’s economy when they work together," the IMF experts said.
