Premature to consider ESM aid for other states - Germany's Scholz tells paper

It is too early to think about using the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) to provide aid to further euro zone countries due to the coronavirus, German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz told Handelsblatt daily on Tuesday,

"The debate is premature," Scholz told the business daily, adding the very existence of the ESM, set up during the euro zone debt crisis, helped stability as it could be used at any time and has enormous firing power. (Writing by Madeline Chambers, editing by Thomas Escritt)