IMF reminds Britain how its economy has benefited from EU

Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, or IMF, said Friday in Vienna that Britain’s economy has benefited from belonging to the European Union, a reference to next week’s referendum in which Britons will decide whether to leave the EU

“Membership of the EU has made the UK a richer country, but it has also made it a more diverse, more exciting, and more creative country,” Lagarde said during a conference organized by Austria’s Finance Ministry.

The French expert recalled that, while there are people who want to hurry up Britain’s departure from the EU, “for the majority of citizens, this has been a great success story.”

Though acknowledging that the British are the ones who have to decide, Lagarde said that the IMF believes that “the economic risks of leaving are firmly to the downside. “

Lagarde said the greater volume of business associated with being a member of the EU would not have occurred otherwise, adding that with more trade comes more investment.

This process, she said, has allowed British industry to become part of Europe’s supply chain in such sectors as aerospace and automobiles.

Lagarde said she was aware that the influx of immigrants and refugees is influencing the British referendum on whether to remain in the EU, but pointed out how much that country has benefited from workers arriving from around the world.

For his part, Austrian Finance Minister Hans Jorg Schelling said that if the “brexit” Britain’s exit from the EU should occur, it might no longer be the same country since some of its regions, like Scotland, could decide to remain in the European community.