Economics
ECB Could Be Europe’s Back Door to Sharing Its Debt Burden
- Some euro-area governments still oppose jointly issued bonds
- Economists say the ECB could hold national debt for decades
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Euro-zone leaders who oppose sharing the costs of the coronavirus crisis might end up doing so anyway -- through the European Central Bank.
The idea that the ECB could absorb the massive debt that builds up in the recession is gaining traction among some economists. If done carefully and over a long period, they say, it could get around the legal ban on so-called monetary financing.