“Mario Draghi will be remembered as a great European”

DIW president Marcel Fratzscher comments today's announcements by the ECB as follows: 

Today’s ECB decision is not spectacular and not unexpected. It signals the ECB’s hope that its September decision was sufficient for a considerable period of time to support the euro area economy. Mario Draghi has said his good-bye with pride after eight successful years at the helm of the ECB. He will be remembered as a great European who has contributed to Europe’s prosperity and unity. The ECB and Mario Draghi have prevented an economic depression and a break-up of the euro in the past eight years. Germany’s excellent economic situation today has been possible not despite, but also because of the ECB‘s monetary policy. Mario Draghi‘s promise to do “whatever it takes” was a turning point and the ultimate test that has made the euro irreversible. He is passing on a well-functioning ECB to Christine Lagarde, who nevertheless has big challenges ahead of her in reforming and strengthening the ECB. Much of the criticism of Mario Draghi in Germany has been misguided. It is high time to pay tribute in Germany to the achievements of Mario Draghi. The ECB, the euro and Mario Draghi have been abused as a scapegoat for the mistakes of national politicians too often in the past few years. Reforms of monetary union, including the completion of banking and capital market union, better rules on sovereign debt and closer coordination of fiscal policy are all necessary to make the euro sustainable and to tap its large potential.