The euro zone needs more risk sharing in the financial sector to accelerate economic growth, the head of the euro zone bailout fund Klaus Regling said on Monday in remarks that are likely to face strong opposition in his native Germany.

Regling said financial integration, on the rise since the euro was created in 1999, took a big step back during the two consecutive financial crises that hit the 19 countries sharing the euro from 2008 onwards and that cut economic growth.

He estimated that the drop in capital mobility between euro zone countries cost 4 percentage points of gross domestic product and 0.5 percentage points in terms of potential growth.

“The lack of risk sharing … is a key challenge in this respect. It is the one eco…

Read the full article at: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-eurozone-risksharing-idUSKBN13G1A3