ECONOMY

ECB tucks away Greece documents

The European Central Bank refused yesterday to disclose internal documents showing how the Greek government used derivatives to hide its government debt because of the «acute» risk of shaky markets, ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said. The ECB turned down a request and an appeal by Bloomberg News to release two briefing documents officials drafted for the central bank’s six-member executive board in Frankfurt this year. The notes outline how Greece used the swaps to hide its borrowing, according to a March 3 note attached to the papers and obtained by Bloomberg News. «The information contained in the two documents would undermine the public confidence as regards the effective conduct of economic policy,» Trichet wrote in a letter in which he rejected the appeal.

Subscribe to our Newsletters

Enter your information below to receive our weekly newsletters with the latest insights, opinion pieces and current events straight to your inbox.

By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.