Economics

Italy’s Monetary Chief Hits Back on Market Turmoil Engulfing ECB

Says bond purchases can be skewed towards countries in need
Bank of Italy governor comments in Bloomberg TV interview

Bank of Italy Governor and European Central Bank Governing Council member Ignazio Visco speaks with Bloomberg’s Francine Lacqua on “Bloomberg Surveillance.”Source: Bloomberg

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By Alessandra Migliaccio and Craig Stirling

March 14, 2020 at 6:00 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

The day after Italy suffered the biggest-ever jump in bond yields, its central bank chief came out fighting.

Ignazio Visco, governor of the Bank of Italy since 2011 and a former chief economist at the OECD, had one mission: to repair the damage caused by his colleague, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, when she suggested it wasn’t her institution’s job to narrow spreads.