(Bloomberg) -- A stronger global role of the euro could help the European Central Bank in better transmitting its monetary policy across euro-area financial markets, according Executive Board member Benoit Coeure.
Speaking in New York on Friday, Coeure stressed that the position of the common currency is “primarily a market-led process.” At the same time, the ECB is supporting efforts to overcome design flaws of the monetary union, a process that will -- indirectly -- also foster a strengthening of the euro's international role.
His comments come after European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker last year called for boosting the use of the euro in international transactions, saying it's “absurd” that Europe pays for 80 percent of its energy imports in dollar when only roughly 2 percent of them come from the U.S.
Coeure said an important factor holding back the euro is a lack of common euro-denominated safe assets. Member states could address that issue by improving their fiscal situation, he said.
“For investors, stability mainly comes from a currency's ability to act as a safe haven in times of global financial stress,” he said. “We know that the journey toward a true European safe asset, one that does not vanish on rainy days, will be long and full of perils.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Piotr Skolimowski in Frankfurt at pskolimowski@bloomberg.net;Matthew Boesler in New York at mboesler1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Fergal O'Brien at fobrien@bloomberg.net, Jana Randow
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