The European Central Bank will do anything possible to ensure that the current crisis is not made worse by a credit crunch, its chief economist Philip Lane said today.
He made his comments in an interview in Italy's Il Sole 24 Ore newspaper today.
When asked if any new interest cuts were possible, Professor Lane said the net asset purchases under the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP) had proven to be particularly effective in the current state of uncertainty and market stress.
He reiterated that the ECB would continue with the net asset purchases until it believed that the critical phase of the coronavirus crisis was over.
Professor Lane, who was formerly the Central Bank Governor here, also told the paper that being part of the euro zone would help countries such as Italy to respond to the coronavirus shock.
