FROM EIR DAILY ALERT

Italian MEP Zanni Tells ECB’s Draghi, You and the Euro Have Been Failures

Jan. 17, 2019 (EIRNS)—Member of European Parliament Marco Zanni slammed European Central Bank President Mario Draghi during a ceremony on the 20th anniversary of the euro single currency in the European Parliament on Jan. 15, telling Draghi that he has failed as central banker and the euro has failed as a currency. Draghi had just given testimony before the parliament admitting there was a slowdown in the economy, while claiming the Eurozone’s economy is not heading for a recession. In typical Draghi doubletalk, he said,

“It’s a slowdown, which is not heading towards a recession, but it could be longer than expected. The ECB has the tools to address (a potential recession) but our present monetary policy stance is very accommodative already.”

This means there will not be interest rate hikes, at least until the summer; and the ECB will roll over the €2.6 trillion ($4 trillion) mountain of debt it has bought.

After Draghi’s performance, Zanni, a member of Italy’s Lega, which is part of the Europe of Nations and Freedom Group in Strasbourg, took on Draghi. Zanni declared that he sees little ground for celebration:

“None of the promises that were made to European citizens concerning the coming of the euro have been fulfilled. In these 20 years, the euro has brought gaps in incomes and performance among countries, and low growth. Today the Eurozone is the continent, or the agglomerate which grows less than all its competitors. Unemployment is high, twice as high as in the United States.

“Your mandate as president of the central bank has not even reached the statutory targets of the ECB. Core inflation especially has remained flat, and far from the self-sustainable 2%. The ECB has printed a lot of money which has not reached the real economy. For every €100 printed by the central bank, only €29 has reached families and enterprises. Well, I believe that looking at this picture, there is little to celebrate, and that this is an important moment to reflect on the failures of the euro and of your mandate as president of this central bank.”

Draghi replied with his usual fake arguments, claiming that 9.6 million jobs had been created since 2013, and the countries suffering from low growth had only themselves to blame for failing to reform their economies.