FRANKFURT: The European Central Bank's ultra-easy monetary policy is necessary and even Germany, the bank's fiercest critic, is a clear winner, ECB chief economist Peter Praet said on Monday.
"The ECB's policy measures have been unambiguously positive for euro-area governments. Germany alone saved approximately 28 billion euro in 2015 in lower-than-expected interest payments," Praet said in Brussels. "Such payments would ultimately have been financed from lower spending or higher taxes."
The ECB will therefore continue to support the economy but it is now vital for governments to share some of the burden and re-balance towards more growth-friendly policies, stimulating demand and ramping up public investment, said Praet, an ECB executive board member.
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