Prof. Volker Wieland can find no reason for the decision of the European Central Bank (ECB) to cut the interest rate on the deposit facility by 10 basis points to -0.50% und to restart the controversial bond purchases. The ECB was continuing its asymmetric policy, he said in an interview with the newspaper "Tagesspiegel". Although earlier the economy had been growing rapidly and inflation had been rising, the ECB had not tightened monetary policy for years.
With the ecnomy slowing down, the ECB reacted strongly, Wieland criticized. Therefore, he couldn't fully understand this decision. In Wieland's opinion, the ECB should have refrained from buying bonds again. He also warned that this would create wrong incentives for highly indebted member countries in the euro area.
Tagesspiegel: "Banken sind besorgt wegen Erhöhung der Strafzinsen"