it is the french, the french taxpayers, who will pay if greece does not pay €40 billion. what about the germans? the germans have €60 billion in outstanding loans, or debt securities. and if it carries on, if this climate continues, could there be tensions? i don ’ t think so if everything is – if the discussions take place in a cooperative way, if a process is put in place from today, everyone will understand that all parties want to a come to a successful conclusion. can we say that you can, you could, extend the maturity on the debt, the repayment of the debt, because you have already done so before? once more, it is not up to the central bank to decide. it is taxpayers ’ money and it is therefore up to the finance ministers to decide on this. benoit cœure, the ecb, with mario draghi, yourself, christian noyer and others has decided to buy assets for an unprecedented, unheard of amount of one thousand four hundred billion between now and september 2016. first, if it does not work, can you continue beyond 2016? first of all, it will work. it will work because it is a huge sum. it has been implemented quickly and it will be efficient. and we will re - evaluate all that in the course of 2016, and we are prepared to continue further if at that time it is not enough. but i am sure that it will work. bis central bankers ’ speeches in other words, you are printing banknotes and will keep on printing and printing, endlessly? we are creating money, and with this money we will buy financial securities. the money should irrigate the economy, as long as the banks play ball, of course. yes, because they might not play ball. might they behave badly? because some people are saying that they can solve their problem of their dividends, their shareholders, etc., and that they might not pass the money on to the real economy. the most important thing for me is that at the end of the day people want to invest and consume. so it is a question of confidence. the decision we have taken this week should contribute to the confidence level, and in the end we also need the economic conditions which make people want to invest. and from when do you think it will have an effect on the economy? you expect results both in terms of inflation and in terms of growth, if it should happen. there will

benoit cœure : interview in europe 1 interview with mr benoit cœure, member of the executive board of the european central bank, in europe 1, conducted by mr jean - pierre elkabbach on 26 january 2015. * * * welcome, benoit cœure. good morning. good morning. so, the greek people have handed a huge victory to alexis tsipras, who has promised them an end to austerity and social suffering. will greece ’ s €320 billion debt be waived? i think this is a two - way challenge. there is a dual responsibility. europe must show that it can adapt to a change in government, even a radical one, in a member state. this is europe ’ s democratic responsibility. equally, mr tsipras must comply with the rules of the european game. so what does this mean for the debt? it will be discussed, but let me remind you that the €40 billion that greece owes to france is not owed to speculators or the financial markets : it is owed to the french taxpayers. cancelling this debt would be giving a gift of €40 billion to greece. any restructuring of the debt must be meaningful. it must allow greece to overcome this situation while continuing with reforms. the french are owed €40 billion? how much are the germans owed? around €60 billion. so, you are saying that, if the debt can be renegotiated, it will happen soon. but in the meantime is it sufficient for mr tsipras to say that he will pay it back, or must he pay it back? he must pay it back. those are the rules of the european game. there is no room for behaving unilaterally in europe. this does not preclude, for example, the restructuring of this debt from being discussed. however, i must stress that this money does not belong to the european central bank. this money belongs to governments. this discussion will take place between mr tsipras and the european governments. and should take place very quickly? it will no doubt start today or tomorrow. yes. and do you think that greece, after this massive victory by mr tsipras and the greek people, must fulfil its commitments whatever happens, in other words that it must pay off its debts? it is essential for greece to continue with the reforms, for the greek economy to pull through. this is what is in the interests of the greek people