FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Central Bank will not seek to ensure favourable financing conditions for any particular countries as it targets policy for the entire euro zone and not specific members, ECB Chief Economist Peter Praet told German magazine Spiegel's online edition.
Countries on the 19-member euro zone's periphery worry that when the ECB ends its 2.3 trillion euro (2.05 trillion pounds) bond purchase scheme, yields will rise, leaving them with rising financing cost, a potential brake on growth.
"If risks rise for one particular country, that's not a problem for monetary policy," Praet, who sits on the ECB's executive board, said in an interview. "We are not targeting specific countries and we are not here to secure favourable financing conditions for governments."
