A top ECB executive board member was quoted by Reuters on Thursday as saying that bailout-dependent Greece “must clear several more hurdles” before the Eurozone’s central bank can include the country’s bonds in its QE stimulus program.
Inclusion in the quantitative easing program has been one of the Tsipras government’s main targets, along with debt relief measures extended by creditors, in order to deflect criticism that it bowed to more demands for austerity in the country at least until 2021.
Benoit Coeure told Reuters that the EZ must decide on specific debt relief measures, in tandem with the IMF’s decision pending on whether it will rejoin the Greek bailout before the ECB makes its move.
“I don’t see a discussion starting in the governing council on (asset purchase program) inclusion before all the steps are taken on the European side and the IMF side, that is, before decisions are taken in the ESM Board of Governors and IMF Executive Board,” Coeure was quoted by Reuters.
