Trichet: ECB sent economic ultimatums to Spain and Italy

Further evidence of how the ECB interfered in eurozone countries’ economies, including Ireland’s, has been revealed by former ECB president Jean Claude Trichet.

He has insisted the ECB did not force any country into a bailout, contrary to what many in Ireland believe, and given the letters he sent to the late finance minister, Brian Lenihan released only earlier this year.

But in a memoir written for The Nikkei in Japan, Mr Trichet told how he issued an ultimatum to Italy and Spain, the eurozone’s third and fourth largest members in what he described as “extraordinary” letters to force them to make changes to the workings of their countries.