‘Uncertainty prevails everywhere’ ECB chief pulls trigger on cash bazooka to save Europe
THE European Central Bank (ECB) is to inject billions of extra euros into the bloc’s struggling economy in another desperate attempt to boost growth amid political chaos in Italy, it was announced today.
By LANA CLEMENTS
Express.co.uk
Thu, Dec 8, 2016
The central bank’s mammoth money-printing progamme will now run until December 2017, and potentially longer, after originally being scheduled to finish in March.
Under the so-called Quantitative Easing (QE) programme, an extra €80bn (£68bn) is currently pushed into the eurozone each month, from April this wil be reduced to €60bn (£51bn), said the ECB.
Monetary policymakers at the bank promised to alter the money-printing programme up or down if the outlook for the eurozone worsened or changed for the better.
In a chilling warning for the eurozone’s future, ECB President Mario Draghi today said: “Uncertainty prevails; uncertainty prevails everywhere.”
The ECB’s action comes amid fears Italy’s troubled banks, and political turmoil in Rome, could create problems for the eurozone recovery in the coming months.
Addressing the issue today, Mr Draghi said problems within the banking system in Italy “have been there for a long time”.
He added: “I’m confident the government knows what to do and it will be dealt with.”
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