Trichet Says Bond Plan Gives Time for Reforms
09/16/2012| 08:16pm US/Eastern
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The European Central Bank's bond-buying program won't affect price stability and will give euro-zone countries extra time to implement adjustment measures, former ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said in an interview published Sunday.
"It's a good measure, as long as this additional time is not wasted by those who have the real solution in their hands, which are member States going through difficulties and, collectively, the euro zone as a whole," Mr. Trichet was quoted as saying in an interview with Spanish daily El Pais.
Mr. Trichet gave a conference at a business school in Madrid Friday.
This month, the ECB's governing council approved a plan that paves the way for the bank to intervene in the bond markets of struggling euro members with unlimited purchases, albeit under strict conditions, in an effort to stabilize borrowing costs of fiscally vulnerable countries such as Spain.
The ECB's council took the decision over loud objections of the Bundesbank, the German central bank.
Mr. Trichet was quoted as saying that during the term of former ECB President Wim Duisenberg, it was decided that once decisions were adopted by the ECB's 22-member governing council, even without unanimity, council members would then speak with one voice.
"This rule is not being respected," Mr. Trichet said.
Write to Madrid bureau at djmadrid@dowjones.com
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