–Adds Comments to Story Sent at 9:18 GMT
FRANKFURT (MNI) – It is up to the Irish authorities to decide
whether or not they will seek aid from their European partners, European
Central Bank Vice President Vitor Constancio said Tuesday.
It is, however, not necessarily the case that other risk countries,
such as Portugal, will follow suit should Ireland apply for assistance,
the vice president told reporters on the sidelines of the Euro Finance
Week conference here.
If the weakened Celtic Tiger were to apply for aid, “it’s because
they consider that it would in fact stabilize the situation,” he said.
“But it’s up to them to decide.”
Asked if others such as Portugal, Constancio’s home country, would
inevitably join the queue for aid, should Ireland seek assistance, he
replied, “There is no necessary link in this respect. All situations are
different from each other. There is no necessary link … it depends on
market developments, which cannot be predicted.”
“I won’t say anything about any specific time tables, it is up for
the Irish authorities,” he said when asked if it were essential for
Ireland to make up its mind on aid this week.
Constancio had “no particular explanation” as to why the ECB’s bond
buying program is not larger, given market tensions, but underlined that
he had not lost faith in the program.
“The program is there, and it is something” which markets have by
now “fully understood… which is not what some commentators would like
it to be, but that is the way it is.”
–Frankfurt bureau; +49-69-720142, tbuell@marketnews.com
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