By David Barwick
WASHINGTON (MNI) – Dismissing the possibility of a restructuring of
Greek debt, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet on
Friday said again that Greece has a fiscal consolidation program that is
being implemented.
Speaking to journalists very briefly following the G-20 meeting
taking place ahead of the Spring Meetings of the IMF and World Bank,
Trichet said that growth in the euro area is now self-sustaining and the
balance of risks to growth “is now balanced.”
“We did not discuss at all” Greek debt and a possible restructuring
of this, according to Trichet. “There is a plan, which is a plan which
has been approved by the international community” and is being applied,
he said, referring to Greece’s fiscal consolidation program.
In other comments, Trichet said that “we will work in our own
process of the Global Economy Meeting in Basel with the various
committees in liaison with the [Bank for International Settlements] in
assisting the developments in global liquidity.”
“Global liquidity is a concept which is very, very complex,” he
said.
If banks need to be recapitalized, he said, “it should be first
done by the banks themselves, second by the markets, and third, if
needed … by the states themselves … . And we call them to stand
ready to recapitalize their own banks if necessary.”
Although there remain risks and uncertainties in the global
economy, “In Europe the recovery has taken hold and is becoming
increasingly self-sustaining,” said EU Economic and Monetary Affairs
Commissioner Ollie Rehn, also at the briefing.
–Frankfurt bureau tel.: +49-69-720142. Email: dbarwick@marketnews.com
[TOPICS: MT$$$$,M$$EC$,M$$CR$,MGX$$$,M$X$$$]
