Stark takes swipe at bond-buying programme

European Central Bank chief economist Juergen Stark hit out once more at the bank's controversial bond-buying programme, saying the crisis was no excuse for the bank to overstep its mandate.

"The intensity of the crisis must not be used as a pretext to throw principles overboard that guarantee the long-term economic stability in the euro area," Stark said in a speech prepared for delivery at a European forum in Lucerne.

A copy of the speech was made available by the ECB in Frankfurt.

"This is true for governments as it is for central banks. Red lines must not be crossed, otherwise what is a solution to today's crisis will lay the basis for a new crisis tomorrow," the economist said.

Stark did not explicitly mention the ECB's controversial decision to help bail out debt-wracked eurozone countries by buying up their sovereign bonds.

But his shock announcement in September that he is standing down at the end of the year is widely seen by analysts and ECB watchers as a consequence of his vocal opposition to the bond-buying programme.

"Little is to be gained if we blindly act a European level to ease the pressure on the markets in the short-term, but in doing this jeopardise the long-term stability and ultimately the very existence of economic and monetary union," Stark said. Frankfurt, AFP