PARIS (Reuters) - States should be ready to increase their spending on economic stimulus programs if circumstances require it, the International Monetary Fund's chief economist said in comments published on Tuesday.
In an interview with French daily Le Monde, IMF Chief Economist Olivier Blanchard said the IMF was sticking to a target of 2 percent of global gross domestic product for the fiscal stimulus required, but warned that more may be needed.
"If the circumstances require it, states must be ready to do more, 3 percent or more if necessary," he said, adding: "We must think about it now because it is not easy to spend such large sums of money efficiently."
(Reporting by Francois Murphy)