MNI BRIEF: Euro Debt Crisis Fears Exaggerated- ESM's Regling

Fears of a euro zone debt crisis have been “completely exaggerated” by the media, ESM Managing Director Klaus Regling said Monday. Speaking at a Capital Markets Seminar, Regling said that all EZ states had the lowest interest rate burden on their public debt since World War II, around a third of the levels a decade ago.

The maturity of public debt since the euro zone’s sovereign debt crisis of 2011-12 had also lengthened, Regling noted, also helping to make debt level more sustainable. The ESM chief also said that there were signs that big institutional Asian investors, such as central banks and SWFs, were also “coming back” into the market for euro zone debt now that negative yields are turning positive.