Germany Is Now an Agent of Change in Europe, Lagarde Says

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde praised Germany for finally opening its purse strings.

Fiscal policy “will play a more supportive role in the years ahead,” she said in Washington on Saturday. “This is of course especially true for countries that are going to increase their defense investment, and this is certainly the case — big way — by Germany, where major military and infrastructure investments are under way, which are just beginning to have an impact but which will be rolled out over the next three years in a very significant way.”