Pierre Gramegna in interview with The Straits Times (Singapore)

Excerpts from interview with Pierre Gramegna, ESM Managing Director
The Straits Times (Singapore)
Published on 27 December 2025
Interviewer: Ravi Velloor

On concerns surrounding economic growth and investment in the euro area:

“The half-empty part of the glass is the far-from-perfect productivity growth in Europe in the last ten years – about 0.6% per year compared with double that in the US. The second issue we have is under-investment. Europe’s savings rate is one of the highest in the world, yet this is not translated into investments in the euro zone but invested all over the world.”

On the likely fiscal consequences of increased spending on defence:

“The question on everyone’s mind is how we can keep sound public finances if we have to spend so much more on defence and on top of that not knowing how this conflict will develop.”

On the ESM’s role in safeguarding financial stability:

“That’s why we are there – to support our member countries and their budgets in case of risk of financial instability because we have a common currency and a common area.”

On whether high valuations of AI companies are a bubble that could burst: 

“It is a risk that is out there, and it doesn’t reassure me when you say this is mainly in the United States because if anything happens in the US, history shows that it will jump over the  Atlantic and also the Pacific and reach other areas of the world. So, we have to take that seriously. It could be that with AI, too, there is a sluggish period of a couple of years where you don’t see the impact, and then it really happens. It is difficult to foresee for the time being.”

On the need to be prepared for crises in multiple countries: 

“We are exactly at a juncture where we realise there is the need for that. [At the same time] we can probably accommodate that need with the existing tools we have.”