FRANKFURT (MNI) – The European Central Bank’s decision to buy
government bonds carries significant stability risks and those risks
must be kept as limited as possible, ECB Governing Council member Axel
Weber said in an interview with German daily Boersen-Zeitung on Monday.
The head of Germany’s Bundesbank said the central bank will ensure
that the program does not undermine its current monetary policy stance
and that it remains committed as ever to ensuring price stability.
“The purchase of government bonds bears significant stability
political risk, and that is why I view this part of the ECB’s Governing
Council’s decision critically even in this extraordinary situation,”
Weber said. He thus left little doubt that he was one of the Council
members opposing the move.
President Jean-Claude Trichet made it clear earlier Monday that
there were dissenters on the Governing Council. “On some of the
decisions there was unanimity — I won’t give details — and on some
there was an overwhelming majority,” Trichet told reporters in Basel.
Weber was an obvious candidate for dissent, given his steadfast
opposition to the idea over the past months and years. “It is now
crucial to keep these risks as small as possible,” Weber told the paper.
MORE
–Frankfurt newsroom +49 69 72 01 42; Email: jtreeck@marketnews.com
[TOPICS: MT$$$$,M$$FX$,M$$EC$,M$X$$$,M$$CR$,MGX$$$]
