European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet has said it is too soon to declare the financial crisis over. Speaking to analysts in Frankfurt, he also stressed that the ECB's exceptional measures should remain in place.
Speaking a day after the ECB left its key interest rate unchanged at a historic low of 1%, Trichet addressed the issue of 'exit strategies', or when the central bank would begin to unwind steps taken over the past two years.
It was 'too soon to call the crisis over,' he said, while also making clear that at some point 'financial institutions ultimately need to stand on their own two feet'.
The ECB has slashed interest rates, loaned unlimited amounts of cash to banks for up to one year and launched a programme to buy low-risk corporate bonds in a bid to unblock a key financial market.
Markets now want to know when the bank will begin to undo its exceptional measures, but Trichet emphasised that 'we will unwind these measures when the situation returns to normal and the rationale for the measures fades away'.
