IMF's Lagarde: Europe should boost, not double, ESM

BERLIN (Reuters) - Europe should boost the size of its future bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), but there is no need to double it, the head of the International Monetary Fund said on Monday.

"I am not saying double it," Christine Lagarde said in a speech at the German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin.

German news magazine Der Spiegel reported at the weekend that Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti wants the lending capacity of the ESM to be doubled to one trillion euros.

At a regular news conference earlier in the day, government spokesman Steffen Seibert said Berlin does not believe the size of the fund needs to be doubled at the moment.

(Reporting by Gernot Heller)