World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said Tuesday that reforms undertaken by eurozone countries were expected to lead to growth in the “near future,” and expressed hopes for a solution to US fiscal cliff negotiations.
“I think the discussions and achievements of European countries over the past six months have been very real,” Kim told reporters in Stockholm.
“I think that the progress that has been made is very real and I fully expect that the reforms continue and expect to see it back to growth in the near future.”
On the United States, he said “we remain hopeful that the discussions on the fiscal cliff will be resolved soon,” referring to tough austerity measures due in January if Congress fails to solve a deadlock.
Kim was visiting Sweden for a meeting of Nordic and Baltic World Bank governors.
Both Kim and Swedish Finance Minister Anders Borg highlighted that Africa and Latin America were regions with strong economic growth. Kim said reforms that the two regions earlier underwent “are now paying off.”
“So the one thing we would encourage everyone to do is to look less on the short term, and really think about what we can do today to put in place the drivers for long-term growth,” Kim said. - Sapa-dpa