AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France (MNI) – European Central Bank Executive
Board member Benoit Coeure said Friday that the ECB was ready to play
the role of banking supervisor in Europe but the role must not
complicate its monetary policy responsibilities.
Speaking at conference here, Coeure reiterated ECB President Mario
Draghi’s call on Thursday for a rigorous separation between any new
banking role from its main job of ensuring price stability.
There must not be any “contamination” between bank supervision and
monetary policy, Coeure said, using the same word employed by Draghi at
his press conference on Thursday.
Coeure said the ECB’s rate cut on Thursday was a response to the
weakening of the Eurozone economy. He did not comment on the outlook,
other than to say that the ECB’s special measures to supply liquidity to
banks should not be considered permanent.
Coeure praised the decisions taken at last week’s European summit,
saying it was like a “renewal of vows” by leaders in the future of the
euro.
But he said that discussions needed to begin immediately and make
rapid progress toward achieving a banking union, including a
pan-European deposit guarantee program and a bank resolution scheme.
Waiting until 2013 to make progress would be a mistake, he said.
–Paris newsroom, +33142715540; jduffy@marketnews.com
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