LONDON (MNI) – European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet
cautioned against reading too much into the fact that the statement from
today’s Governing Council meeting made no mention of the ECB’s exit
strategy.
Trichet told a press conference in Frankfurt that the ‘gradual and
progressive’ phasing out of the ECB’s non-conventional measures was
“permanently looked at.”
“So don’t overinterpret the fact that we did not mention this in
the communique…,” he added.
At the same time, citing the ECB’s swift action over the weekend to
maintain the eligibility of Greek government bonds as collateral with
the ECB, Trichet said that the central bank remains “permanently alert”
and could take rapid action as required by events:
“We have a sense of direction – we know where we go, we will never,
never put in jeopardy the delivery of price stability, which is our
major asset and is demanded by the people of Europe very, very
strongly,” he said.
–London newsroom, +44-207-86-27492; ukeditorial@marketnews.com
[TOPICS: M$$EC$,M$X$$$,MT$$$$,MGX$$$$,M$$CR$]
