ECB has 17 husbands: deputy PM

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

Deputy PM says European Central Bank prints money far too loosely. AA photo

Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan likened the European Central Bank (ECB) to the “17 Husbands of Hürmüz,” a reference to a famous Turkish play where the heroine tries to concurrently manage being married to seven different men.

The eurozone uses a single currency, but 17 different countries have their own monetary policies, Babacan said during a televised interview yesterday. Failing to manage their individual monetary strategies, the eurozone-member countries turn to the ECB for financing, he said.

 “They cannot borrow from the market, so they go to the ECB and say ‘Print me money. Otherwise how can I pay for my obligations or my debt?’” said Babacan, who strongly criticized the ECB for producing money in a haphazard fashion.

“If a common currency is printed with such ease and without the necessary calculations, it will only lead to a serious loss of value in the currency in the future,” he said. This practice is a serious cause for concern, he added.

The deputy prime minister also stressed the current situation in the euro area was unsustainable and the zone would either crumble or the 17 countries would be forced to band together to adapt a more centralized and stronger monetary policy. Otherwise, the burden would be too hard to bear for the individual countries and even Germany would be hard hit, he said.