The ECB kept benchmark interest rates at a record low of 1 percent for the 12th month in a row and ignored calls for extra cash injections or the use of its 'nuclear option' -- a purchase of Greek and possibly other countries' government bonds. "Default is, for me, out of the question," he said. Flanked by outgoing Vice-President Lucas Papademos and his replacement Vitor Constancio, currently head of the Portuguese central bank, Trichet said Spain and Portugal were not in the same boat as Greece.
Stressing that calls for fiscal thrift and bold structural reforms applied to all euro-zone countries, he reiterated the ECB's backing for Greece's savings plans and dismissed the prospect of any euro zone member defaulting on debt.
In a speech at Lisbon's Universidade Nova, Trichet hit out at speculators who take out contracts to insure against default without owning the bond in question, saying the mutation of arbitrage into speculation should be reversed.
For more: ECB gives Greece verbal support, dashes rescue hopes | Reuters
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