FRANKFURT (MNI) – The euro is “of course” solid as a currency,
European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said Friday, but
acknowledged that “a number of difficulties” exist in “a number of
countries.”
Trichet rejected the notion that there is a north-south divide in
the Eurozone, noting that northern countries had in the past not behaved
according to the rules of monetary union.
The president reminded that the ECB has always “separated very
strictly” its non-standard measures from interest rate policy, which is
“designed to deliver price stability.”
“We have a primary mandate, we know what we owe to our fellow
citizens,” he said. “We know what we owe to our democracies.”
“On the other hand, we are experiencing a situation which is
profoundly abnormal and we have to care for the transmission of our
monetary policy,” he added.
“All our non-standard measures are designed to help a more normal
transmission of our monetary policy decisions,” he stressed.
The “euro as a currency is of course solid,” he stressed. “How can
a currency that keeps its value over 12 years so well not be solid?”
“What we have are a number of difficulties in a number of
countries,” he conceded.
But, he said, “I don’t trust too much that we have a divide between
north and south, between wealthier countries and countries that are
poorer.”
The president praised Germany, saying the country had been
“incredible in the recent period,” pointing out that unemployment had
declined despite the crisis.
–Frankfurt bureau tel.: +49-69-720142. Email: frankfurt@marketnews.com
[TOPICS: M$$CR$,M$$EC$,M$X$$$,M$G$$$]
