FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) – European Central Bank head Mario Draghi says the eurozone’s chief monetary authority is willing to “step up the pressure” and broaden its efforts to stimulate the struggling economy.
The comments fed market expectations for more central bank action, sending the euro lower and stocks higher.
Draghi said Friday at a banking congress in Frankfurt, Germany that if current efforts do not achieve the desired effect the ECB could “broaden even more the channels through which we intervene.”
The ECB has already lowered its benchmark interest rate to near zero and started purchasing bonds made up of bank loans to companies, an effort to boost lending and economic activity.
Draghi said the bank could alter “the size, pace and composition of our purchases.”