Tax & Spend
ECB Policymakers Attack Euro Area’s Big-Spending Governments
- Dutch central bank chief observes unwillingness to be helpful
- Fiscal policy has been left behind, Slovenia’s Vasle says
European Central Bank headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany.
Photographer: Alex Kraus/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Euro-area governments are choosing not to pursue budgetary policies that support the European Central Bank’s efforts to tame inflation, according to Governing Council member Klaas Knot.
Central bankers are confronted with a fiscal stance that is “completely out of line with the cyclical position of our economy,” the Dutch policymaker told a panel discussion Friday in Slovakia. “And there is an unwillingness to be helpful in supporting us in trying to stabilize the euro-area economy.”