Mario Draghi rebuffed German criticism of his attempts to stem the eurozone debt crisis yesterday, as the European Central Bank drafts plans to intervene in sovereign bond markets.
The ECB president said it was justified for the bank to use “exceptional measures” as part of its mandate to keep prices stable in the eurozone. “Fulfilling our mandate sometimes requires us to go beyond standard monetary policy tools,” said Mr Draghi, who is expected to outline the ECB’s intervention strategy on September 6.
Mr Draghi’s comments in a German newspaper appeared designed to address the split between ECB officials and Germany’s Bundesbank, the most influential national central bank in the eurozone. The Bundesbank opposes ECB bond purchases aimed at holding down borrowing costs for eurozone member states such as Spain and Italy.