By Michael Psilos 

 

 

Greece is on the right path, Luis de Guindos, Vice-President of the ECB, said in an interview with “Naftemporiki” and Michalis Psilos.

 

More specifically, he said: “Greece is outperforming the rest of the euro area and is reaping the benefits of the policies that were implemented during the crisis years, which were indeed very tough.”

 

He added that the Greek people have been through many hardships and made great sacrifices.

 

Regarding the Greek banks, he noted that the situation is evolving in parallel with the improving economy. “The banking system is much more resilient than it was six or seven years ago. But there is no room for complacency. Even though Greek banks are in a far better position than they were in the past, they must continue cleaning up their balance sheets.”

 

Asked about ECB rates, he replied: “Looking at recent inflation developments, we can see a very clear disinflationary process.”

 

“Services inflation is stickier. And that’s why we need to wait,” he explained.

 

When asked about the Fed, he said: “We act independently. The Federal Reserve is, of course, the central bank of the world’s largest economy, and we do look at what is happening in the US economy. But we are data-dependent not Fed-dependent, as President Lagarde has indicated in the past. We do not target the exchange rate. Several factors influence exchange rate developments including differences in terms of economic performance, the evolution of inflation and the decisions taken by monetary authorities. We monitor developments continuously, and I am quite sure that the Fed is also looking at what’s happening in Europe and at the decisions we take. Central banks communicate with each other frequently, but in terms of the decisions we take, we are totally independent.”

 

Asked about the United States elections in November, Vice-President of the ECB, said: We do not comment on the internal political issues of other countries. We have a lot of respect for democratic processes all over the world. And as you know, we will also have elections in Europe in June. We will do our best to deal with whatever the different societies decide. The ECB is not involved in politics.”