ROME- The debate around a proposal that the European Central Bank should cancel government debt it has bought during the coronavirus crisis is pointless, Italy's Economy Minister Roberto Gualtieri said on Wednesday.
"The best way to cancel debt is to reduce it through economic growth and that is what Italy is committed to doing ... I think this debate on debt cancellation is pointless," Gualtieri told a conference online.
On Tuesday Italy's co-ruling 5-Star Movement said the ECB should cancel all Italian government debt it owns related to the coronavirus health emergency, adding such move would "not only be fair, but easily achievable".
The party was backing a proposal made earlier by European Parliament President David Sassoli.
The ECB's vice president Luis de Guindos said after Sassoli's suggestion that there was no legal basis for the ECB to cancel government debt it owns.
Gualtieri said the ECB would continue to hold COVID-related debt for as long as inflation remains below target and that Italy was perfectly comfortable with the ECB's work which he said ensured "very positive financial conditions".
(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte, writing by Agnieszka Flak, editing by Gavin Jones) ((agnieszka.flak@thomsonreuters.com; +39 02 6612 9450; Reuters Messaging: agnieszka.flak.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
