Lagarde applauds the NAFTA update and sees trade as an economic engine

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) director, Christine Lagarde, insisted today that it is "perfectly legitimate" to revise the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to update it, but stressed its defense of trade integration as a powerful engine of increase.

"When you have long-standing agreements, it is perfectly legitimate to review them because the world has changed, to be updated and improved," Lagarde said in commenting on the ongoing NAFTA renegotiation talks in effect since 1994 between the US, Mexico and Canada at a press conference.