The European Central Bank, Greece’s crucial provider of liquidity in lieu of a bailout deal, on Wednesday extended its support to Bank of Greece (BoG) Gov. Yannis Stournaras, who come under attack by the ruling SYRIZA government recently.
Bloomberg quotes ECB sources as saying Europe’s central bank is “concerned” over government pressure aimed at the Bank of Greece.
The report came hours after far-leftist minister Panagiotis Lafazanis issued a not-so-veiled warning from Parliament’s podium, stating that “all scandals will be investigated”, referring to economic policy and decisions by previous governments. Lafazanis, who heads the unofficial “internal opposition” in ruling SYRIZA, pointed to the sell-off of the healthy portions of the otherwise loss-making and state-run Agriculture Bank and Postbank by the previous government.
Stournaras was the very high-profile finance minister in the previous Samaras coalition government.
Amongst others, Stournaras has come under attack by the government and pro-SYRIZA media for failing to support the government’s economic policy and negotiating positions vis-a-vis institutional creditors.
The BoG governor has also been the target of continuing criticism by the daily “Avgi”, which is the radical leftist party’s official mouthpiece, as well as numerous ruling party MPs.
According to Bloomberg, beyond the attacks against Stournaras by the government, the autonomous status of Greece’s central bank – a shareholder of the ECB – is disputed.