Weidmann resignation threat piles pressure on Draghi

German central bank chief Jens Weidmann’s reported threat to resign has piled pressure on ECB president Mario Draghi to mollify opposition to a new bond-buying plan without tying it up in so many knots it is rendered ineffective.

Weidmann, at a central bank symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, refused to comment on a report in Bild newspaper that he had considered quitting several times in recent weeks but had been dissuaded by the German government.

He has made no secret of his displeasure with the strategy to lower Italian and Spanish borrowing costs by buying bonds.