Euro central bank boss Mario Draghi rejects Renzi reforms for deficit rules
EUROPEAN Central Bank (ECB) chief Mario Draghi weighed in on the debate over Eurozone deficit reduction yesterday, slapping down Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s push for a more lenient approach.
Speaking in London yesterday, Draghi stressed the importance of sticking to the currency bloc’s existing fiscal rules. Recently, Renzi and other European politicians had suggested that the pace of fiscal consolidation should be linked to structural reforms.
“What is essential now is that these rules are enforced. To unwind the consolidation that has been achieved, and in doing so to divest the rules of credibility, would be self-defeating for all countries,” said Draghi yesterday, speaking at the Tate Modern.
The ECB boss also suggested that “there is a case for some form of common governance over structural reforms”, organised along the lines of the Eurozone’s fiscal compact.