European Central Bank governing council member Jens Weidmann told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, according to a release of an interview to be published in Wednesday’s edition:
- A stronger wage rise in Germany is positive amid virtually full employment in some sectors and regions and frequent reports that skilled workers are lacking
- A 3% wage increase could be a reference point, based on an inflation rate of just less than 2% mid-term and productivity gains of 1%
- Weidmann also warned against large-scale purchases of asset-backed securities by the ECB and other central banks. – said such purchases would be “problematic if central banks assumed the higher risks that eventually the taxpayers would have to bear” while the profit from the loans business would be left at the bank
