Eurogroup won’t change policy under Portugal’s Centeno: Dijsselbloem

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Portuguese Finance Minister Mario Centeno’s chairmanship of euro zone finance ministers will not change the policies of the powerful decision-making body, the outgoing chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem told European Parliament on Thursday.

Asked if the appointment of Centeno, a socialist, meant euro zone finance ministers would end their policy of austerity, Dijsselbloem said:

“I think it is a non-debate. The strategy of the Eurogroup has never been defined by a one-dimensional approach of austerity. So I think that our strategy won’t fundamentally change.

“A large part of the strategy is of course embedded in the Stability and Growth Pact and other agreements between us, part of the strategy is also to sort of the financial sector and get banks back to business,” he said.

“So the change of the chair does not mean that all of a sudden policies will change – they have been embedded in agreements between us and there will still be decisions in the Eurogroup by unanimity,” Dijsselbloem said.

Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data.

Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.