Belgium’s Vanackere Says Euro Area Hits Turning Point in Crisis

Belgian Finance Minister Steven Vanackere said the euro area has begun to emerge from the three-year-long debt crisis, crediting political plans for more financial integration and the European Central Bank’s pledge to limit government borrowing costs.

Vanackere said European leaders’ decision last June to seek a banking union and ECB President Mario Draghi’s announcement in September of a bond-buying program for euro nations willing to sign up to budget-austerity conditions marked a “turning point.” He said “in-depth structural” changes by European countries to bolster the economy have further improved the outlook.