German central bank chief questions signal about monetary easing by ECB

The chief of the German central bank has questioned the debate about possible monetary easing in an interview with a German newspaper. Jens Weidmann, who is also a member of the European Central Bank (ECB) Governing Council, told German weekly Die Zeit that it was not sensible to signal moves of monetary easing shortly after the rate cut earlier this month. ECB Vice President Vitor Constancio on Tuesday disclosed that the ECB considered the Quantitative Easing as a possibility but has not discussed it in detail. The ECB Executive Board member Peter Praet talked about the possibility of buying assets to lift the inflation rate, which stood at 0.7 percent in October and is estimated to remain weak. Weidmann cast doubt on the measures. He told the newspaper that there is no easy and quick way out of the crisis and printing money won't solve it. He attributed the crisis in the eurozone to the lack of competitiveness of some countries, high government debt and struggling banking systems. According to Weidmann, the ECB is "technically" not at the end of the possibilities.