The European Parliament on Monday expressed broad support and full confidence in the way that the European Central Bank is handling what clearly is the worst financial crisis since the second World War.
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Addressing a packed committee-room in Brussels, ECB chief Jean-Claude Trichet said that the ECB, together with national central banks, has spent more than 115 billion euro since the crisis began. This money was spent on  distressed bonds from countries like Greece and Portugal in order to support the market.
"The security market programmes strictly aims at correcting mal functioning of markets. The prohibition of monetary financing underlines precisely the fact that budgetary discipline is of the utmost importanceâ, Trichet said.
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Responding to concerns about a possible lack of liquidity in the Eurozone, Trichet said that this simply was not a possibility because of the immense volumes of money that circulates in Europe.
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Trichet said that buying troubled bonds in the open market does not clash ...