“The ECB Governing Council and the ECB banking supervisor would be more comfortable if there were capital controls to prevent the banks bleeding (money),” German arch-conservative daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung claimed Thursday citing an source from the European Central Bank. ECB’s concern was allegedly based on the ground of a strong capital outflow due to the economic instability.
The FAZ report was dropped as a bombshell, as the Greek government struggles to reach an agreement with its lenders on Eurogroup field.
Shortly later, the ECB officially denied the FAZ report:
The European Central Bank on Thursday denied a report in a German newspaper that it would feel more comfortable if Greece introduced capital controls to stem the outflow of deposits from its banks.
Responding to the report in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), which cited central bank sources, the ECB said the Governing Council of policymakers had not addressed the issue.
“There was no discussion on capital controls in the Governing Council,” said a spokeswoman. (Reuters)
PS I hope Dijsselbloem’s claim in 2013 that the Cyprus rescue was a “template for other countries” remains his false dream.
