FRANKFURT: The European Central Bank said on Thursday that debt-strained euro zone governments are yet to be convincing about the seriousness of their deficit cutting efforts and may be weakening on their commitments.
"Overall, current (consolidation) policies and plans give rise to concern for a number of reasons," the ECB said in a section on fiscal developments in its monthly bulletin.
"In these times of high uncertainty, governments have yet to demonstrate convincingly the seriousness of their consolidation promises."
"With regard to the implementation of the Stability and Growth Pact, there is a risk that the commitments fully adhere to the letter and the spirit of the provisions, as proclaimed in May 2010 in the face of strong financial market pressure, may be weakening," it added.
The comments come ahead of a string of key meetings this month that will shape the way debt rules are implemented in the euro zone in future.
The ECB has long been lobbying euro zone governments to do more to solve the bloc's debt troubles.
Having already criticised last year's Franco-German deal that watered down planned reforms, ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet last week urged the European parliament to ignore recent political changes and revert to the original plan of making debt rules more automatic.
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