ECB's Coene says euro zone exit possible in theory - paper

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A country could in theory leave the euro zone if it wanted to, European Central Bank policymaker Luc Coene said, but he added that he could not imagine which nation would want to do so. Coene told Dutch daily De Telegraaf that a lack of confidence in the euro project among the currency union's citizens arose because it was approached in an amateurish way early on. "Now we've learnt the lesson," said Coene, whose role as Belgium's central bank chief gives him a seat on the ECB Governing Council. "If a country decided to leave, why shouldn't it be allowed to happen? I can't imagine what country that would be, but theoretically that can always happen," he added. Turning to the ECB's new sovereign bond-buying plan, due to start next month, he said: "We saw inflation expectations fall sharply. We had to give oxygen to the system." "Now we're waiting to see how big the effect is," he added. "We have to be careful not to inflate any bubbles." Asked about the possibility of introducing common euro bonds across the currency bloc, Coene said "that's inevitable." But common bond issuance and European taxation would first need adequate political union, he said, adding: "We still need to think about that." (Reporting by Thomas Escritt; Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Catherine Evans)