ECB doesn’t need spread-fighting tool right now, Nagel says

ELTVILLE AM MAIN, Germany – The European Central Bank does not need at present to come up with a new tool to keep bond spreads in check and should instead focus on curbing inflation, ECB policymaker Joachim Nagel said on Tuesday.

“It (bond spreads) will be in the future one of the indicators we have to look at, but today I’m not so sure if we really should address this via a special instrument,” Nagel, who heads Germany’s Bundesbank, told an event.

“For the moment our mandate seems to be rather clear and we can discuss the fragmentation story later.”

(Reporting By Francesco Canepa)