Final Word from Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Just a few months after the Czech National Bank flipped the nuclear switch, Pres. Mario Draghi of the European Central Bank signaled that he is prepared to launch Europe's own version of quantitative easing. He would be ready to buy packages of bank loans to households and companies, according to the Financial Times. CNB Gov. Miroslav Singer already has one round of self-contrived quantitative easing under his belt (the Nov. 7 devaluation) and is now looking into the future. If there were a eurozone crisis that got one of the parents of the Czech banks in trouble, he told LN, the ideal thing would be for it to be possible for the CNB to save the Czech subsidiary at the CNB's own expense. The CNB would squeeze out the current foreign owner with a capital increase and then sell the local bank, he said. Our banks are profitable and liquid, he said, and they are exceptionally valuable parts of the foreign banking groups. There would definitely be people interested in buying them, he said. Yeah, we can think of five or six Czech oligarchs. [Czech Republic governor Lidové noviny nationalization]
Glossary of difficult words
quantitative easing - a central-bank policy of buying government securities or other instruments to increase the money supply;
self-contrived - conceived in a way that suits one's own needs or intentions;
under one's belt - safely or satisfactorily achieved, experienced or acquired;
to squeeze out an owner - to take legal steps to exclude someone from ownership, typically against the person's will.