The European Central Bank (ECB) renewed its call for politicians to empower Europe’s rescue fund to buy government bonds on the secondary market.
ECB executive board member Lorenzo Bini Smaghi said in an interview with Greece’s To Vima newspaper that it would be “useful” to allow the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) to buy bonds on the open market, according to a transcript published by the Frankfurt-based ECB yesterday.
“This would allow the private sector to sell bonds at their market value, which is currently lower than the nominal value,” Bini Smaghi said. “This would allow the private sector to sell while the public sector would save money. Such an option was not included in the design of the EFSF. If there is a way to change the EFSF, that would be useful.”
European leaders in March declined to authorize the facility to purchase bonds on the secondary market — a role the ECB assumed last year as the Greek debt crisis escalated.
Bini Smaghi said the onus remains on Greece to pursue its fiscal consolidation program. He also encouraged Greek banks to sell foreign assets.
“The Greek banks have to sell some assets abroad, get fresh money in the system to be able to contribute to the recovery, do mergers even with foreign banks to bring in foreign capital,” he said. “If you consider the fully hypothetical situation in which all Greek banks were owned by foreign capital, as was the case in eastern Europe, then a lot of problems in Greece would be eased.”
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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