Brussels, 20/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - French Socialist presidential candidate François Hollande, front-runner in the polls, has explained two ways that the ECB could stimulate growth. On French television on Friday 20 April, he said that the ECB could firstly cut interest rates, which he thinks would be a good idea, and secondly, it could lend directly to countries. The EU treaties do not allow the ECB to finance public debt, but as a result of the financial crisis, the ECB had bought up struggling countries' bonds on the secondary market from May 2010 onwards, to the tune of €210 billion. (MB/transl.fl)