EU-backed austerity measures ‘hurt’

A UK-based think tank says the European Union’s solutions to rescue the bloc’s economies are causing more harm than benefit.

In an exclusive interview with Press TV, director of the Bruges Group criticized the EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for pushing governments to implement harsh cutbacks and tax rises, which he said takes a heavy toll on the least well-off in society.
Robert Oulds said “The solutions that the European Union has been forcing and of course the IMF has been forcing on these countries, is not helping, it is actually hurting.”
Oulds insisted that Southern Europe needs to protect its social spending, and support pensioners and the unemployed, so that people would spend more money locally.
He complained “But all that has been happening is that the European Central Bank has been pumping billions into reckless banks, wants of course governments to having to have cutbacks.”
Oulds stated “The EU’s approach which is to protect the financial institutions first above its own citizens is the wrong way forward and until they stop putting citizens first, there would not be economic growth and there will continue to be high unemployment.”