FRANKFURT (MNI) – The European Central Bank will continue to
deliver price stability, ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said at an
event marking his departure from the central bank.
“Whatever the future holds, you can be sure that the ECB Governing
Council will continue to be faithful to its primary mandate and that the
ECB, together with the Eurosystem, will continue to be an anchor of
stability and confidence,” Trichet said.
Trichet noted that to date “the euro is a credible currency that
has proved to be a very good store of value, backed by solid
fundamentals.”
He rejected recent criticism that the central bank may have
compromised its independence by buying government bonds of troubled
Eurozone countries and offering in-depth advice on national fiscal
policies.
“The ECB has been fiercly independent and will remain so,” Trichet
said.
Trichet’s successor, current Bank of Italy head Mario Draghi, said
in his own largely personal remarks that growth and financial stability
require fiscal discipline.
–Frankfurt bureau tel.: +49-69-720142. Email: frankfurt@marketnews.com
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