Donohoe set for October budget ‘Draghi bounty’ as ECB prepares to boldly act

The head of the ECB Mario Draghi came close to confirming that some interest rates are heading lower in September -- and a senior analyst says this will provide Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe with a ‘Draghi bounty’ and more ‘fiscal room’ in his autumn budget.

Mr Draghi who is preparing to retire from the central bank in a few months to be succeeded by the former IMF boss Christine Lagarde told reporters in Frankfurt, Germany, that monetary policy will need to stay loose for “a prolonged period” and the bank was ready to use all the tools at its disposal amid a rapid slowdown in manufacturing, particularly in Germany and Italy.