ECB boss Lagarde lashes out at Dutch cabinet over budget surplus, low domestic investment

Christine Lagarde, who will soon be president of the European Central Bank (ECB), lashed out at euro countries like the Netherlands and Germany for not spending their budget surplus to stimulate the European economy. "Why not use that budget surplus and invest in infrastructure? Why not invest in education and why not invest in innovation?" she said, according to NU.nl.

Whit this Lagarde, the former president of the International Monetary Fund, is following the same line as her predecessor Mario Draghi. Though Draghi rarely mentioned the euro countries he referred to by name. With the current low interest rates in the euro zone, ECB policy is having less and less effect. Economic stimulus must therefore come from the governments, Draghi said.

Lagarde will officially take over from Draghi as ECB president on Friday, November 1st.

Over the past year other economists also argued for greater government spending from the Netherlands and Germany, according to the newspaper. In this way the governments can make use of historically low interest rates on their government bonds.