BERLIN (MNI) – ECB Governing Council member Jens Weidmann, in a
television interview aired Sunday, welcomed the news that Spain will
receive up to E100 billion from the European bailout fund to prop up its
ailing bank sector.
“I have faith in the Spanish government, which has already
implemented far reaching structural reforms in the labor market, but it
has to pursue this path,” Weidmann, who is president of the Bundesbank,
told German ARD public television.
Commenting on the upcoming elections in Greece and the chances of
the country staying in the Eurozone, Weidmann said it was up to the next
Greek government to decide. Greece cannot receive further EU-IMF aid if
it does not continue to adhere to the agreed consolidation and reform
plan, he stressed.
“The new Greek government, once it is formed, has to send a clear
signal whether it is ready to implement the agreed reform measures,” the
Bundesbank chief said.
In other remarks, Weidmann reaffirmed that joint Eurobonds in the
Eurozone could only be issued once closer fiscal and political
integration has been achieved. “The idea of launching joint liability
without having credible authority to intervene would be wrong in my
view,” he said.
In a separate interview with German weekly Welt am Sonntag (WamS)
published Sunday, Weidmann said changes need to be made to the Eurozone
if it is to become sustainable.
“The currency union can’t function sustainably the way it is at the
moment,” he argued. “We need more clarity if we want to go down the
route to a fiscal union, or if we want to keep relying on
self-responsible national budget policies,” he said.
Weidmann argued in the WamS interview that Germany should stay in
the Eurozone. “A disintegration of the currency union would be linked to
extremely high costs and risks,” he warned.
–Berlin bureau: +49-30-22 62 05 80; email: twidder@marketnews.com
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