ECB ‘obeys law, not politicians’, Draghi says, in riposte to German rates sniping

Mario Draghi has hit back hard at German criticism of low interest rates, insisting the European Central Bank does not take orders from politicians.

Speaking as the bank kept its benchmark interest rate at zero, the ECB president warned that challenges to its independence would dent confidence in the eurozone’s recovery and force policymakers to keep rates lower for longer.

“We have a mandate to pursue price stability for the whole of the eurozone, not only for Germany,” he said. “We obey the law, not the politicians, because we are independent, as stated by the law.”