ECB’s Bini Smaghi said AIG rescue was essential for markets. He said “you couldn’t let a big insurer go under because it would have impacted on millions of consumers”, adding that the “intervention was essential to restore confidence”. Bini Smaghi stressed that “the markets need confidence” and that in order to “restore that confidence banks and financial institutions have to have confidence in each other”. At the moment “they do not even feel sure enough to lend each other money”, which is “pushing interest rates up and making it harder to get credit”.