Lagarde: equal pay for men and women is the goal

Christine Lagarde, the chief of the International Monetary Fund, called on governments and businesses to do more to promote the same economic opportunities for men and women and to fight discrimination that interferes with those goals.

Speaking at a conference in Washington, Lagarde said that ensuring equal pay and economic opportunities for men and women boosts growth, promotes diversity, reduces economic inequality around the world and helps companies earn more.

“It’s actually good for growth, it’s good for diversification of the economy, it’s good for reducing inequality and from a micro point of view, it’s also good for the bottom line of companies,” Lagarde said. “It’s an economic no-brainer.”

"Good fiscal policies actually serve to close that gender gap and to facilitate access," Lagarde said.

She added that it was high time governments were made accountable for promoting women's rights. "It would really be nice when a government is toppled because they didn't pay attention to women," Mlambo-Ngcuka, the United Nation's top women's rights official, said. "And there isn't enough of that happening."