ECB Governing Council member Olli Rehn said it’s “essential” EU would come up with a “convincing package” tomorrow to “mitigate the economic effects of the crisis, especially for the weakest countries.” He warned that “the future of Europe as a political community is also at stake.” The difficulties caused by the coronavirus pandemic are “not due to any single country’s reckless management of finances,” he added. ” It is therefore necessary to support the most severely hit countries.”

Rehn also noted that a “joint solution” is likely to be found by using EU’s “budget framework rather than through joint loans.” “Joint European solutions are also in Finland’s interest because our own economy, too, is highly dependent on the European economy’s development and recovery. Alone we can boost our domestic demand but not exports,” he added.

As for ECB, “we will continue to monitor the situation and stand ready to adjust all of our measures, as appropriate,” he said.

In a letter to a European Parliament member, ECB President Christine Lagarde pointed out that the term “helicopter money” has been associated with a wide range of policy proposals. “In many cases, these proposals do not fully address the associated operational, accounting and legal complexities nor provide a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis of the full economic and monetary impact”

In another letter, she emphasized that the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, “prohibits” the ECB and national central banks to purchase debts directly from EU institutions and member governments. She said, “the Treaties have been understood to mean that primary market purchase of government debt, i.e. the direct financing of governments, would undermine the capability of this objective to encourage such disciplined budgetary policy”.

Her comments reinforced the view that ECB would continue hoover up assets on the secondary markets even if the asset purchase program approaches limits.

ECB Executive Board member Fabio Panetta criticized that Eurozone’s fiscal response to the coronavirus pandemic has been insufficient. He emphasized, “only if all economies act with the necessary force to contain the recession will the loss in output for the entire eurozone be minimized.”

He warned, “any perception that common action is absent in times of desperate crisis would dilute public support for the European Union — an effect that is already visible in countries on the frontline of the health crisis.” And, “the threat to the single market is clear: uneven fiscal support implies that a firm’s location, rather than its business model, will be the decisive factor in determining whether it survives this crisis.”