ECB to assess need for more action next year

The European Central Bank will judge early next year whether it needs to take more action to revive the eurozone economy, president Mario Draghi said yesterday.

The ECB’s Governing Council was unanimous in its willingness to launch measures such as a government bond buying programme with new money if necessary, Mr Draghi told a news conference after the ECB kept borrowing costs at a record low.

The eurozone’s central bank has set itself a goal of expanding its balance sheet – buying assets from banks and others in return for cash in the hope it will be pushed into the economy –- by up to €800 billion, or even €1 trillion, back to early 2012 levels.