Draghi Opens Door to Bigger ECB Crisis Role
FRANKFURT--European Central Bank President Mario Draghi opened the door to an escalation in the central bank's efforts to battle the debt crisis, hinting that the bank would be willing, under certain conditions, to intervene more forcefully in financial markets.</br></br>Mr. Draghi stopped short of promising unlimited purchases of euro-zone bonds, as a number of European policy makers have recently demanded, but his comments nevertheless signal that the ECB is willing to do more.</br></br>In his first appearance before the European Parliament since taking the ECB helm last month, Mr. Draghi offered a road map for policy makers and investors as Europe's debt crisis reaches a critical phase next week, when the ECB has its monthly meeting and European leaders hold another crisis summit.</br></br>His call to politicians: Enact tough new rules to punish fiscal rule-breakers and follow through on pledges to pursue deficit-cutting measures. Mr. Draghi signaled the ECB is willing to help, if governments deliver.</br></br>"He ruled out a swift type of approach, but at least he has told the markets if these two things are being done [by governments], then he won't let market confidence deteriorate too much. I thought it was quite well done," said Daniel Gros, director of the Centre for European Policy Studies.