Jörg Asmussen squashed talk that the ECB was considering ending its role as one of the troika of official lenders for European bailout deals.
"The ECB will not withdraw from the troika, and any reports that suggest that are unfounded", he told reporters after attending a meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Brussels. "We don't see any threat to our independence while we are participating in the troika...The ECB participation in the troika is key."
Mr Asmussen said the ECB will be part of a team of experts from the troika, which also includes the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund, that will head to Cyprus Tuesday. Mr Asmussen said the ECB's experts will update the analysis of Cyprus's banking system on the trip.
Jeroen Dijsselbloem, head of the Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers, had announced the experts' trips a few moments earlier. That followed a side meeting of finance ministers from Italy, France, Germany, Spain and Cyprus, plus Mr Dijsselbloem and officials from the troika, after the Eurogroup meeting had ended.
"Technical experts from the institutions will travel to Cyprus as soon as possible, let's say from tomorrow, to start talks with the new Cypriot government to work towards an agreement on helping Cyprus", Mr Dijsselbloem said. "I'm very happy to be able to announce that."
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