In particular, sovereign debt in the eurozone was deemed riskless: banks had only to hold minimal reserves against member countries’ bonds, which the European Central Bank accepted on equal terms at its discount window. Member countries could borrow at practically the same interest rate as Germany, and banks were happy to earn a few extra pennies by loading up their balance sheets with the government debt of the eurozone’s weaker economies.
尤其是欧元区主权债务被视为无风险的假设：银行对于所持有的欧元区成员国债券只要留存最低储备就行了，欧洲央行的贴现窗口对所有欧元区成员国一视同仁。成员国可以以事实上与德国相同的利率借钱，银行业很乐意持有大量欧元区疲软经济体国债，赚取零星的利差。比如，欧洲银行持有了超过1万亿欧元的西班牙债，其中一半是德国和法国银行持有的。