ECB’s Lagarde: International Trade Important for Innovation

5 July 2024

By Isabel Teles – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on Friday underscored the important role played by global commerce.

Speaking at Les Rencontres Economiques d’Aix-en-Provence in France, Lagarde said, ‘In the world as it is, with the fragmentations that we see in trade, in currency, in the payment systems… we absolutely must innovate. However, to innovate, international trade is an important driver.’

In the absence of international trade, it was necessary to create the conditions for the single market to develop in Europe, she said.

‘[W]e need a single European market, we need capital to be attracted or to remain in Europe’, she said.