It was not the E.C.B.’s job to “fund the gap of any bank runs,” Mr. Weidmann told the central bank’s governing council, according to confidential minutes of the meeting, citing both the Cyprus rescue and the Greek bank bailout in 2012.
As depositors yank their savings from Greek banks, the question is being asked if the E.C.B. would bail them out again. The question gained urgency late last week as the new Greek government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras abruptly cut off talks with the country’s lenders.
On Wednesday, the E.C.B. will meet to decide whether it should approve a move by Greece’s central bank to provide emergency loans to some of the country’s largest banks. Such short-term financing, which is more expensive than traditional loans, is provided only as a last resort, when banks are bleeding deposits and cannot obtain funds from their usual lenders.
And while Greece’s banks are in far better shape than they were two years ago, the fear that Mr. Tsipras’ government could be even more radical than advertised has prompted a mini bank run, with bankers and analysts estimating that as much as 14 billion euros has been withdrawn from the banks in the last month.
Bankers say that these outflows accelerated late last week following aggressive anti-Europe comments by new government ministers.
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For that reason, any decision by the E.C.B. to curtail emergency funding access would require a two-thirds majority vote. So, while Mr. Weidmann may well want to cut off Greece, he will need the support of a large number of his peers — not least Mr. Draghi — to get the job done.
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