European Central Bank Governing Council member Luc Coene said on Monday that the central bank has a number of options to ease policy, including cutting deposit rate below zero and offering more cheap loans to banks.
Negative rate on deposits at the ECB is one of the possibilities, reports said citing his remarks during a seminar in London.
Coene, who heads the Belgian central bank, said extending the long-term refinancing operations (LTROs) is another option before the ECB to ease monetary policy, if required.
On Spain, Coene warned that rising bond yields may force the country into asking for bailout. "If the markets see that Spain is not going to" ask for financial assistance, "it will not be long before spreads will rise again and Spain will be forced to come back" on its decision to request bailout and submit to ECB conditions.
by RTT Staff Writer
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