(Bloomberg) --
The European Central Bank issued a rare statement slapping down remarks by a Governing Council member suggesting the institution was out of tools to stimulate the economy.
“The ECB stands ready to adjust all of its measures, as appropriate, should this be needed to safeguard liquidity conditions in the banking system and to ensure the smooth transmission of its monetary policy in all jurisdictions,” the Frankfurt-based institution said in an emailed statement on Wednesday.
The comment comes in response to an interview Austrian central-bank governor Robert Holzmann gave to daily newspaper Der Standard, where he said the ECB’s Governing Council has reached its limits and agreed with President Christine Lagarde that addressing the coronavirus crisis is “above all” a task for fiscal policy.
“The Governing Council was unanimous in its analysis that in addition to the measures it decided on 12 March 2020,” the ECB said in response, adding it “will continue to monitor closely the consequences for the economy of the spreading coronavirus.”
Holzmann’s predecessor, Ewald Nowotny, also had the distinction of having his remarks publicly countered by the ECB, when he said in 2018 that the institution could lift its deposit rate alone when it starts raising borrowing costs.
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