MUNICH (Dow Jones) — For the long-time head of the ESM rescue fund, Klaus Regling, there is “no doubt that the euro will survive. As a young currency, the euro has already mastered four crises in 15 years quite well and is the second strongest currency the world,” said Regling of the Süddeutsche Zeitung (Thursday edition).
Over the years, the ESM has granted almost 300 billion euros in bailout loans to euro area countries such as Greece, Portugal and Spain. Regling does not see it as a problem that the ESM has not granted any new loans since 2018. “On the contrary, this confirms that the measures taken to avoid crises have been successful.”
The head of the ESM sees the lack of an EU capital market union as one of the biggest challenges for the euro in the next few years. “As the world order of the past 70 years is collapsing and we are headed for recession, Europe needs to find ways to compete in the world. One important way to do this is to create a strong single capital market.” On Friday, after two terms in office, Regling is stepping down as head of the ESM, for which the euro finance ministers are still looking for a successor.
Contact the author: [email protected]
DJG/cln
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 05, 2022 18:00 ET (22:00 GMT)