PARIS (MNI) – European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet
on Thursday reiterated that the ECB supports greater funding and a
broader mandate for the Eurozone’s rescue fund, the European Financial
Stability Facility.
Trichet was asked at his monthly press conference what he thought
of recent suggestions by some European officials that the lending
capacity of the facility be increased and that it be given broader
powers, including the possibility of purchasing government bonds — a
move that would take pressure off the ECB.
“We are shipping to the [Eurozone] executive branches collectively
the message that this stabilization fund should be improved
quantitatively and qualitatively,” Trichet replied. He later added, “Our
message is: improvement in quantity and quality, particularly in terms
of the effectiveness of the intervention of this fund.”
With regard to the ECB’s government bond-purchasing program,
Trichet repeated what he said in December’s press conference, namely
that “it is an ongoing program” and “you will see what we have done in
time, according to our own data.”
Trichet also said the ECB continues to mull possible solutions to
the problem of banks, particularly in the Eurozone periphery, that are
dependent on ECB funding.
“On persistent bidders, it is an issue we are examining on an
ongoing basis,” he said. “It is a complex issue.” For banks that have
fallen into the habit of reliance on ECB money, “we continue to do all
we can to discourage such attitudes,” the ECB chief said.
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