Berlin (AFP)

"Disproportionate", "exceeding the limits", the relaunch of the vast program of redemptions of the European Central Bank opened on Friday an open sling within the monetary institute, putting at stake its credibility.

It weakens the ECB at a time when its president Mario Draghi is preparing to hand over the end of October to the director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, after eight years of a tumultuous mandate.

The first attack came in the afternoon of the governor of the Dutch central bank, Klaas Knot, attacking with a rare virulence to the "wide range of measures" adopted Thursday to stimulate the economy.

This arsenal, whose ambition surprised observers, includes both a resumption of asset purchases, a rate cut, a tapering rate system and giant loans granted to banks.

Applauded by the financial markets, it is "disproportionate compared to the current economic situation and there are good reasons to doubt its effectiveness", Mr Knot criticizes in a statement.

He deplores "in particular" the "restart" of public and private bond buybacks by the ECB, which had allowed to pour 2.600 billion euros on the markets between March 2015 and the end of 2018 to boost credit.

- 'Draghila' -

Controversial from the outset, this program dubbed "QE", for "quantitative easing", is one of the weapons forged by ECB President Mario Draghi, noting that conventional interest rate steering failed to revive the economy and inflation.

Less than an hour later, the president of the German central bank Jens Weidmann attacked in turn in the daily newspaper Bild, judging that the ECB had "exceeded the limits" by relaunching the QE.

"With the decision to buy even more government bonds, it will be even harder for the ECB to get out of this policy, the longer it lasts and the more the side effects and risks (...) for financial stability. increase, "criticized Mr. Weidmann, a time tense to succeed Mario Draghi.

If he abstains from citing names, this exit clearly aims Mario Draghi, whose voice is prominent in the Governing Council of the ECB, and who defended the decisions Thursday against the press by brushing the economy a disturbing picture.

More broadly, Jens Weidmann believes that such a program "blurs the dividing line between monetary policy and fiscal policy", since it allows the most indebted states to refinance themselves cheaply with the ECB, a situation deplored in Germany For years.

Finally, he emphasizes that the historically low level of interest rates penalizes savers. "Count Draghila siphons our bank accounts," Bild grumbled on Friday morning, photomontage in support.

- Rehn as a firefighter -

In total, "a dozen" of the 25 members of the Governing Council of the ECB on Thursday pleaded against the revival of QE, which has split as rarely guardians of the euro, according to a source close to the Eurosystem interviewed by the AFP.

The recalcitrant even incorporate traditional support of Mario Draghi like the governor of the Bank of France, François Villeroy de Galhau, and the "darling of the markets" Benoît Coeuré, according to this same source.

According to a source close to the European Central Bank, however, it is said that this figure should be "divided by two", while Mr. Draghi was limited to Thursday mention "a diversity of views" on this topic.

Finally, assured the Italian central banker, the consensus on the measures decided "was so wide that there was no need to vote", a formula that kept a modest veil on the extent of divisions.

First to organize the response, the governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn on Friday called for restraint on Bloomberg TV, saying "always better to avoid excessive divisions, especially in public."

The package adopted Thursday "was not a mistake," he pleaded, "it is the best effort we can make to respond to the economic downturn."

© 2019 AFP