Financial markets recoiled yesterday after Mario Draghi demanded eurozone governments turned to existing rescue funds before any intervention by the European Central Bank in bond markets to shore up Europe’s monetary union.
But a determined Mr Draghi also said the ECB would devise a plan to buy bonds in order to combat “exceptionally high” risk premiums for some eurozone countries, while easing private investors’ fears about the ECB putting itself at the back of the queue for absorbing any losses on investments.
“The euro is irreversible,” Mr Draghi said. “It stays . . . It is pointless to bet against the euro. It is pointless to go short on the euro.”