FRANKFURT (MNI) – The European Central Bank has not set a volume
for its bond-buying programme and the final amount will depend on its
effectiveness, ECB Executive Board member Lorenzo Bini Smaghi said in an
interview with German daily Boersen-Zeitung on Wednesday.
“The volume will depend on the result” of the programme, Bini
Smaghi said. The success will be measured by the return to liquidity on
the market segment and not by any particular price target, he added.
“We want liquid markets in which suppliers and buyers come together
and reach an equilibrium price,” he said. “We are not aiming for
specific prices, surcharges or ceiling prices.”
Bini Smaghi insisted that there is absolutely no alternative to
Greece’s paying up its debt and carrying out necessary reforms, as the
contagion risks from a default would be significant. “Nobody would be
able to escape,” he warned.
Greece and other Eurozone governments can expect no financial aid
from the ECB in combating surging debt levels, he said. “We do not
support countries financially, we are not the International Monetary
Fund and we do not save states.”
Bini Smaghi suggested that the ECB is not overly concerned about
the euro’s slide in foreign exchange markets.
“Our goal is a strong euro for Europeans in the sense of strong
domestic purchasing power,” he explained. “So as to ensure a strong
euro, we are looking at a number of data, including the exchange rate,
and then acting in line with our mandate.”
–Frankfurt bureau tel.: +49 69 720 142. Email: frankfurt@marketnews.com
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