Draghi Says ECB Stimulus Row Won’t Tarnish Legacy as President

(Bloomberg) --

Mario Draghi gave a sanguine view of last month’s row over the European Central Bank’s stimulus package, doubting that it would affect how he will be remembered as its president.

Asked at his last news conference in Frankfurt on Thursday about whether he was concerned the public dispute would tarnish his reputation, ECB President responded with a laugh: “Frankly, the answer is no.”

“We have discussions. Everybody has discussions, all jurisdictions have disagreements when monetary policy decisions come to be discussed, and these disagreements are often made public. Often they are not.”

The decision last month to restart quantitative easing was opposed by a third of the Governing Council, including central bank chiefs from the core of the euro region. Dutch governor Klaas Knot took the unprecedented step of publishing a statement of dissent. His Austrian colleague, Robert Holzmann, suggested he will push for a reversal of the negative rate policy under Draghi’s successor, Christine Lagarde.

Draghi said disputes are only natural, and this is hardly the first time there’s been disagreement over a monetary policy decision.

“I’ve taken this as part and parcel of the ongoing debates and discussions,” he said.

--With assistance from Yuko Takeo, David Goodman and Lucy Meakin.

To contact the reporter on this story: Piotr Skolimowski in Frankfurt at pskolimowski@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Gordon at pgordon6@bloomberg.net, Craig Stirling, Zoe Schneeweiss

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