MONS, Belgium (MNI) – The European Central Bank cannot act as a
substitute for crucially needed improvements to economic governance in
the Eurozone, ECB Governing Council member Luc Coene said Tuesday.
“If we want to preserve the success of Europe, we need crucial
improvements to economic governance”, Coene, who heads the Belgian
National Bank, told an audience at the University of Mons.
“It is not the ECB’s role to substitute for a lack of true
consensus or European policies,” he said.
EU leaders meeting in Brussels this weekend will try to put
together a comprehensive solution to “pierce” the crisis of confidence,
said Coene.
A crucial part of their talks will focus on institutional reforms
to strengthen economic policy coordination and governance among the 17
countries that use the euro.
The ECB Governing Council member also lamented the poor liquidity
in the interbank market.
“Again, banks prefer to leave liquidity at central banks at less
favourable terms than with each other,” he said.
— Peter Koh, Brussels Correspondent, Market News +32(04)95228374
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