The European Central Bank must tighten monetary policy if it needs to counter inflationary pressures and cannot be put off from doing so by the financing costs of euro zone states, ECB policymaker Jens Weidmann told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper. Euro zone countries have ramped up their borrowing to cope with the coronavirus pandemic, potentially leaving them exposed to increased debt servicing costs if the central bank tightens policy to counter upward pressure on prices.“The ECB is not there to take care of the solvency protection of the states,” said Weidmann, whose role as president of Germany’s Bundesbank gives ... (full story)