"I aired our view of the importance of strengthening demand in Europe, especially in light of rising unemployment," U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said.
BERLIN — U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew urged Europe's strongest economies to help spur growth after talks Tuesday in Germany and France, as Portugal and Cyprus provided the latest headaches.
Stressing that the United States had an "immense stake" in a prosperous Europe, Lew told reporters in Germany, the bloc's biggest economy, that consumer demand was the driver of economic growth.
"Policies that would help to encourage consumer demand in countries that have the capacity would be helpful," he said at a joint press conference with German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble.
The treasury chief, on a tour of eurozone capitals for his first European trip since taking over from Tim Geithner in February, repeated his call after talks in Paris with French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici.
"I aired our view of the importance of strengthening demand in Europe, especially in light of rising unemployment," Lew told a joint press conference with Moscovici.
Lew also called for an even approach between austerity measures and efforts to promote growth.
"It's clear is that there needs to be a balanced approach between growth and fiscal consolidation," he said.
In both countries, he stressed Washington's strong desire to see a "strong and prosperous Europe."
The U.S. official's maiden European tour comes as Portugal scrambles to find new spending cuts after the Constitutional Court rejected a number of austerity measures, and hard on the heels of an emergency bailout for cash-strapped Cyprus.
Auditors from Portugal's international creditors are to make an extra visit to the country in the coming weeks after the court ruling, which has complicated its efforts to qualify for funds under its 78-million-euro (US $102 million) rescue.
