IMF Economic Counselor and Director of Research Maurice Obstfeld called for relaxing of the tight fiscal measures on Greece due to the refugee crisis. Speaking to German newspaper Handelsblatt he stressed that more flexibility is necessary in the short term regarding fiscal goals, adding that structural reforms are unavoidable. Obstfeld underlined that debt relief for Greece is needed, while on the refugee crisis he said that EU member states should seek more cooperation and share the burden of the refugee crisis and avoid erecting walls and fences. He was also critical of the fact that the ECB had taken on the task of boosting the economy on its own without any help from fiscal policies.