ITALY: Prime Minister Mario Monti welcomes the ECB's decision to launch a bond-buying programme

Record ID: 860493

  • Title: ITALY: Prime Minister Mario Monti welcomes the ECB's decision to launch a bond-buying programme
  • Date: 6th September 2012
  • Summary: ROME, ITALY (SEPTEMBER 6, 2012) (REUTERS) ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER MARIO MONTI AND EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT JOSE MANUEL BARROSO ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER, MARIO MONTI, SAYING: "Today there has been an important step forward - after the decision of ECB President Mario Draghi - toward a more satisfactory euro zone governance." MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER, MARIO MONTI, SAYING: "I think that today an important step forward was taken and I have strongly appreciated that the European Central Bank has reached this decision, in its independence which must be strictly respected by each and every member state." MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT, JOSE MANUEL BARROSO, SAYING: "The ECB cannot and should not finance governments but in a situation where there is no integrity of the monetary policy, if governments commit formally to strict discipline, it is appropriate and within the mandate of the ECB to act. And they can and they should act. In respect of course of their independence I think it is my duty to remind this." MONTI AND BARROSO SHAKING HANDS
  • Embargoed: 21st September 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Italy
  • City:
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: International Relations,Economy,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA4G8U1U5K3PR6U2ZGFT888ISOJ
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti on Thursday (September 6) welcomed the European Central Bank's decision to launch a bond-buying programme to reduce bond yields without saying whether Italy would ask the ECB for help to lower its own borrowing costs.
    "Today there has been an important step forward - after the decision of ECB President Mario Draghi - toward a more satisfactory euro zone governance," Monti said. Monti added that it was "premature to say" whether the conditions tied to the central bank's bond buying would be an obstacle for Italy to request its help.
    "I have strongly appreciated that the European Central Bank has reached this decision, in its independence which must be strictly respected by each and every member state" Monti added.
    Monti spoke before a planned meeting with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, who also defended the ECB's plan.
    "The ECB cannot and should not finance governments but in a situation where there is no integrity of the monetary policy, if governments commit formally to strict discipline, it is appropriate and within the mandate of the ECB to act. And they can and they should act," Barroso said.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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