Europe without euro 'a massive setback'

Austria's top banker said that a Europe without the euro would be "a massive setback" and "an economic explosion" for the entire continent politically and economically. "The effects on employment, economic development, exports and banks are not forseeable", warned Austrian National Bank governor and European Central Bank Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny. Nowotny said, in a interview with Kurier newspaper late Tuesday, a currency union required discipline on the part of its members. "There have been mistakes here. Therefore there must be reforms now to stabilize the currency union fiscally as well". The European Central Bank had welcomed the possibility of the current European Financial Stability Facility to buy state bonds on secondary markets. The Central bank, however, did not want to continue its own program of acquiring state bonds. In general, the principle of rescue umbrellas was "that there is no help without conditions," said Nowotny. The right principle was to "help for self-help."