MNI: Draghi: See No Signs Low Rates Boosting Debt in Eurozone

--ECB President Says Low Rates Should Help Consolidation

By Christian Vits

     WASHINGTON (MNI) - The European Central Bank rebuffed the argument that the

current low interest rates lead or have led to higher debt levels in the

currency bloc, ECB President Mario Draghi said Saturday.

     "We don't have any evidence that our low interest rates have caused a rise

in debt," Draghi said in a press briefing in Washington. "I don't see any

dramatic rise in debt," he added. 

     "The low rates should be used to favour consolidation," Draghi said. "It is

a positive situation, a good opportunity to undertake structural reforms and

correct weaknesses we saw when the financial crisis hit the world." 

--MNI Frankfurt Bureau; +49 69 97782671; email: christian.vits@marketnews.com

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