–Story originally transmitted on Sunday at 1753 ET
BERLIN (MNI) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Jens
Weidmann in an interview with German weekly Der Spiegel published Sunday
again argued against further purchases by the ECB of bonds of highly
indebted Eurozone member states.
The Bundesbank president criticized that the Eurosystem has taken
“significant risks” on its balance sheets, thereby blurring the barriers
between monetary and fiscal policy. “We must reduce these risks again,”
he urged.
Weidmann had made the same demand already last Tuesday in a speech
at a conference in Cologne. “I’m decidedly of the opinion that [these
risks] must be reduced now and not increased,” he said then.
In the Spiegel interview, Weidmann called it “highly dangerous” if
the impression arose that the ECB was the only institution capable of
acting in the crisis.
Weidmann reaffirmed his demand that Greece should only get the next
tranche of financial aid from the EU and the IMF if it meets its
consolidation and reform goals. German Finance Minister Wolfgang
Schaeuble also repeatedly insisted on this point in recent weeks.
–Berlin bureau: +49-30-22 62 05 80; email: twidder@marketnews.com
[TOPICS: MT$$$$,M$X$$$,MGX$$$,M$$CR$,MFX$$$,M$G$$$,M$$EC$,M$Y$$$]
