ADVERTISEMENT

Draghi Says ‘Whatever It Takes’ Lives on With Future ECB Chiefs

Draghi Says ‘Whatever It Takes’ Lives on With Future ECB Chiefs

(Bloomberg) -- Go inside the global economy with Stephanie Flanders in her new podcast, Stephanomics. Subscribe via Pocket Cast or iTunes.

Mario Draghi says his successor will also do whatever it takes to save the euro zone -- or at least he’d better.

“It’s very difficult to foresee hypothetical events where you assume that the president of the ECB doesn’t behave in a way to preserve the euro,” Draghi told reporters in Vilnius in response to a question about how his as-of-yet-unnamed successor would handle the bloc’s next crisis. “It’s just a hypothesis I don’t even want to consider.”

Draghi’s eight-year term ends in October and European political leaders are hashing out who will succeed the man who’s been credited with saving the euro with his famous “whatever it takes” pledge.

He reminded reporters, though, that managing the bloc’s economy isn’t a one-man job: “In any event, it’s the Governing Council that decides, don’t forget.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeannette Neumann in Madrid at jneumann25@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Fergal O'Brien at fobrien@bloomberg.net, Zoe Schneeweiss, Brian Swint

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.