BERLIN (MNI) – The European Central Bank’s two long-term
refinancing operations (LTROs) cannot fundamentally solve the Eurozone’s
sovereign debt crisis, ECB Executive Board member Peter Praet said
Thursday.
Speaking at an event organized by the German finance ministry,
Praet said one should not be fooled “into believing that monetary policy
is the medicine to solve the underlying problems in the Eurozone.”
“This rests with Eurozone … governments,” he stressed. They need
to “bring public finances back to a sustainable path and reduce the
debt overhang.”
“Postponing this again will not be advisable,” Praet warned. “The
ball is in the camp of governments.”
“It is not for central banks to bail out the banks,” Praet said.
On the Eurozone economy, he said that recently “there were signs
that are better than we thought.” He noted that “there is a sort of
rebalancing of the export side” going on in the Eurozone.
–Berlin bureau: +49-30-22 62 05 80; email: twidder@marketnews.com
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