MNI: ECB Coeure: Euro Area Growth Too Reliant on ECB MonPol

By Christian Vits

     FRANKFURT (MNI) - Economic Growth in the Eurozone still too much depends on

the European Central Bank's monetary policy, Executive Board member Benoit

Coeure said Wednesday and called for further reform efforts across the bloc.

     "Monetary policy can quickly become overburdened if national fiscal and

economic policies fail to internalise the effects they have on the common

currency," Coeure said in Berlin.

     "It is easy to see that if fiscal policy is loosened during an expansion,

or tightened during a recession, the burden on the central bank to stabilise the

economy increases mechanically," he added. "Even today, euro area growth still

relies too much on monetary policy support," he criticised.

     According to ECB staff estimates, the contribution of the ECB's easing

measures to annual euro area GDP growth was half a percentage point in 2017 and

will still be around one-third of a percentage point in 2018.

     "Monetary policy can do little to lift the long-term growth rate of our

region," Coeure said and demanded further reforms, both at Member State and euro

area level.

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

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