ECB has ‘no excuse’ not to act in liquidity crisis: Constancio

FRANKFURT: The European Central Bank has "no excuse" not to intervene by buying government bonds if there is a liquidity crisis, the ECB's outgoing vice-president Vitor Constancio said on Thursday.

"From now on, the ECB will have no excuse to not fulfil its mandate in addressing the impairment of the single monetary policy transmission by intervening in the sovereign bond market," Constancio said at a farewell conference.

He listed the acceptance of this ECB duty as the first of a list of reforms he considers necessary, along with the creation of a euro zone "fiscal" tool for helping countries in distress, among other measures.