LONDON (MNI) – European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said
here today that the political appetite for making the E440-billion
European Financial and Stability Fund permanent has strengthened in
recent weeks.
In response to a question on whether it would be wise to make the
EFSF permanent, Van Rompuy said: “The general feeling among all the main
players, all the 27, is that they will take every necessary step to
safeguard financial stability. This political will is now a lot more
clear than a few weeks ago.”
“You can be sure that, if needed, we will take any step to
guarantee financial stability,” he said.
Van Rompuy also said that weaker eurozone states must meet their
fiscal targets in order to improve investor confidence.
Turning to a question on China’s recent purchases of peripheral
eurozone bonds, Van Rompuy said that it was a ‘good policy’ for Beijing
to buy debt from eurozone countries.
“I think it’s a good policy for them to diversify their
investments; not only buying bonds in US dollars, but also of the euro.
They invested in some weak countries so they are very confident in the
solvency of those states,” he said.
Van Rompuy then suggested that China’s bond purchases would also
see the euro strengthen against the yuan.
“There are of course other reasons for them to diversify,” he said.
“There are other side-effects because when they buy euros, the euro
becomes stronger in relation to their currency.”
–London newsroom: +44-207-862-7492: email: wwilkes@marketnews.com
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