Coeure Says ECB Should Look at Getting Loans Into Real Economy

The European Central Bank should look at ways to ensure that its cheap loans reach households and businesses, Executive Board member Benoit Coeure said.

“Any means to channel ECB liquidity where it is most needed, namely to households and enterprises, is worth considering,” Coeure said in an interview with Slovakia’s Hospodarske Noviny newspaper published by the Frankfurt-based ECB today. Looking into whether the ECB’s funding operations should be better targeted to the financing of the real economy, and particularly of small and medium-sized enterprises, deserves further thought, “even though the implementation would obviously be difficult,” he said.