Bonello Urges ECB Caution With Rates as Debt Crisis Persists

European Central Bank council member Michael Bonello said policy makers mustn’t raise interest rates at the expense of economic growth in debt-strapped euro-area nations if inflation expectations remain contained.

“In uncertain circumstances like these, we need to balance doctrine with pragmatism,” Bonello, who heads the Central Bank of Malta, said in an April 15 interview in Valletta. “We must be careful not to make it more difficult for countries to grow out of their debt problem.”