Structural reform key in new bailouts: ECB's Constancio

Structural reforms must be a highlight of any new bailout programs in the euro zone, European Central Bank Vice President Vitor Constancio told news agency MNI on Wednesday.

A country must request aid before the ECB can intervene with its new bond purchase program, which has calmed financial markets, even if it has not been used yet.

Any aid program "should of course very much include structural reforms," Constancio told MNI on the sidelines of the meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Tokyo.

"The (European) fiscal part has been considered a lot already in the excessive deficit procedure. The (European) Commission will see what is necessary. But structural reforms must be a highlight of any precautionary program," he added.

Constancio dismissed concerns the euro zone could be at risk of deflation. "Our own internal analysis does not show that at all," he said. "I don't see any risks of deflation."

(Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by John Stonestreet)