Europe needs to carry on structural reforms: UBS chairman

Europe is not back from the crisis and governments should carry on structural reforms, Axel A. Weber, Chairman of the Board of Directors of UBS, said at a panel discussion here on Wednesday.

Weber, former president of the German central bank, Bundesbank, made the remarks while speaking at a panel discussion at the ongoing World Economic Forum here. Weber said the European Central Bank (ECB) has been continuously buying time for the European policy makers to fix issues.

"Europe is not back, but the problems are back," Weber commented. Europe has lost a good opportunity to do necessary things in a "more benign environment" and now they need to deliver, he said.

Europe is facing many challenges, Weber said, citing high unemployment rate, weak growth environment and inflexible product markets.

In reply to a question about the decisions of the ECB on another wave of economic stimulus due on Thursday, Weber believed that the ECB could only solve part of the problems in Europe.

Weber played down on expectations for the ECB to do more. According to Weber, the more the ECB does, the less the governments are willing to do.

Zhu Min, Deputy Managing Director of International Monetary Fund, considers the shortage of investment in the euro zone as a main reason behind the weak economic growth.

According to Zhu Min, Europe still needs an accommodative monetary policy. He called for more political leadership in Europe to overhaul labor laws and change the pension systems. Endit