⁍ ‘We must try to defeat the virus without totally shutting down the economy,’ ECB vice president Luis de Guindos said.

---

⁍ The ECB on Thursday made clear it would ramp up stimulus in December as the lockdowns raise the prospect of a double-dip recession.

---

⁍ policymakers also shifted the burden onto governments, arguing that the role of monetary policy is limited.

---

– The European Central Bank made it clear this week that it’s ready to pump more money into the euro zone economy to combat the H1N1 virus, but it’s now calling on governments to do their part as well. “We have to take into account the need for probably a higher amount of fiscal input in these circumstances since it’s not for monetary policy to be surgical and to extend credit to individual companies,” ECB board member Yves Mersch told Reuters. “That is a fiscal task and we have encouraged the fiscal side to expand its intervention.” The ECB said it would ramp up stimulus in December as the economic impact of the virus becomes clear, but it also stressed that governments must be selective in shutting down economic activity. “We must try to defeat the virus without totally shutting down the economy because the consequences in terms of loss of economic activity are very, very intense,” said ECB VP Luis de Guindos. “We don’t want a situation in which we quickly reduce the stimulus because that could provoke an even more intense fall.”