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UPDATE 1-France's Lagarde-will do more on economy if needed

Published 03/30/2009, 03:20 PM
Updated 03/30/2009, 03:24 PM

(Adds details, quotes)

LONDON, March 30 (Reuters) - French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde said on Monday more action would be taken to stimulate economic activity if current efforts did not work.

Policymakers, meeting at a G20 crisis summit in London on Thursday, are under pressure to stave off a prolonged downturn, but much of Europe has signaled it wants to gauge the power of measures already undertaken before committing to more.

"Europe certainly has done what it should at this point, we need to make sure it actually works," Lagarde told Britain's Channel 4 News. "If we need to do more, we'll do more in due course. The key purpose we have is to execute."

Britain and the United States have pushed for more supportive action, but British business minister Peter Mandelson told Channel 4 any future British stimulus measures should be carefully targeted.

"What I think the G20 leaders will agree on Thursday ... is to continue to do what it takes to restart the global economic machine," Mandelson said.

Lagarde said currencies would not feature on the G20 agenda this week, but would need to be looked at later on.

"The whole issue of currencies is not really discussed at this point in time," she said.

"Anything having to do with the monetary balance, imbalances, will have to be discussed later on and I am sure that will require international consultation so that we avoid competitive devaluations which really would not be in the interests of everyone."

Lagarde also said action needed to be taken to support emerging economies during the downturn.

"We cannot afford failure on that front," she said. (Reporting by Matt Falloon; Editing by James Dalgleish)

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