Head of Germany\\\'s central bank criticises ECB stimulus plan

The head of Germany’s Bundesbank has criticised the European Central Bank's (ECB) recent cut in borrowing costs and its pledge to buy repackaged debt, saying they took pressure off governments to implement needed reforms. Jens Weidmann told Der Spiegel magazine that the moves went beyond previous attempts to encourage banks to lend more, and could free banks of risk at the cost of the taxpayer.  ‘In my view the recent decisions by the ECB Council (are) a fundamental change of course and a drastic change for the ECB's monetary policy,’ he said in an interview published on Sunday. ‘No matter how you think about the content of the decisions, the majority of the ECB Council members are signaling with it that monetary policy is ready to go very far and to enter new territory,’ according to Reuters.