The President of the European Central Bank, Jean Claude Trichet said on Friday that “irresponsible” actions on the part of eurozone governments will not be accepted, according to The Wall Street Journal. Trichet said “Monetary policy responsibility” on the part of European policymakers, “cannot substitute for government irresponsibility,” and repeated a call for a “quantum leap” in economic governance in the region. Trichet pushed for governments to continue implementing stronger austerity measures to reduce massive fiscal deficits that are burdening some countries on the periphery of the bloc.

The push from the ECB leader comes as the cost of protecting some European government debts against defaults reached new records, following the recent announcement that future bailouts would hit bondholders. Markit found that credit default swaps for Spain, Belgium, and Ireland reached record highs on Thursday. An analysis of CDS prices suggest that credit ratings from Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s Investors Service are seen as too high by investors that are demanding higher prices for swaps on debt from Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain. Lena Komileva of Tullet Prebon said, simply, “Further downgrades are certain.”

Click here to read the story on Trichet's comments from The Wall Street Journal.

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