Merkel warns leaders not to ease off on reforms

German Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday warned fellow European leaders not to ease off on economic reforms after the European Central Bank announced bold new moves to bolster growth in the euro area.

Speaking to a large audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, just as ECB president Mario Draghi was unveiling a hotly anticipated bond-buying programme, Merkel said she understood why the recent debate over ECB policy had been controversial, given vast amounts of liquidity already sloshing around in global markets.

“It does not surprise me that there is a contentious debate within the ECB. The world is already well supplied with liquidity,” she said.