The European Central Bank cut its inflation and growth forecasts for the eurozone yesterday as its president said things could get worse.

Europe’s flawed political mechanisms condemn the bloc to repeated crises, and the notion of ejecting a member from the euro is an “evil genie” with destabilising consequences, a top central banker said yesterday.

The Greek prime minister has backed himself into a corner. With his people facing €60 cash withdrawal limits at banks, they may well choose to side with Europe in a vote, writes Hugo Dixon

Eurozone leaders have been called to an emergency summit on Monday as finance ministers failed to make any progress in resolving the Greek impasse.

European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly is taking on the powerful ECB, asking why market-moving information was revealed to a select group of people including bankers and hedge fund managers in London.

Equities around the world jumped yesterday and the euro tumbled on signals the European Central Bank may accelerate its €1tn bond-buying programme over the next two months.

Ireland stands to benefit more than any other nation from the ECB’s €1.1 trillion policy of quantitative easing, with hundreds of millions of euro potentially flowing through the economy by next year as a result.

European Central Bank executive board member Benoit Coeure cautioned that the region’s economic recovery is reversible and needs to be used as an opportunity by governments to boost growth potential.

The amount of bonds eligible for the ECB to buy under its quantitative-easing programme is poised to shrink as the purchases risk pushing more yields below zero, according to Societe Generale.

European Central Bank executive board member Benoit Coeure said bond purchases under the bank’s quantitative easing programme will aim to match the existing maturity profile of the market.

Conversations at Davos typically focus on the thousands of wealthy and powerful folk who trek to the Alps every January for the World Economic Forum.

If quantitative easing becomes the responsibility of individual central banks then it will not be effective, according to the Minister for Finance Michael Noonan.

Mario Draghi this week faces one of the dominant challenges for the euro-area economy in 2015, writes Catherine Bosley

The ECB’s second round of long-term loans came in at the low end of analysts’ estimates, bolstering the case for the institution to start large-scale quantitative easing.

The European Central Bank will next quarter consider buying sovereign debt in relation to the size of each euro member’s economy if current stimulus proves insufficient, vice president Vitor Constancio said.

European Central Bank policymaker Christian Noyer said over the weekend that it seemed that the risk of deflation had been avoided in the eurozone, even if inflation remained too low.

Eurozone interest rates will diverge from those in the US and Britain for a number of years, according to European Central Bank (ECB) executive board member, Benoit Coeure.

The European Central Bank might start broad-based asset purchases if the inflation outlook worsens, Mario Draghi said, as he prepares the ground for one of the most radical policies in ECB history.

European Central Bank president Mario Draghi said a further appreciation of the euro would trigger more monetary stimulus in his strongest warning yet about the region’s rising currency.

The European Central Bank may ease its policy further if the euro gains strength, said ECB executive board member Benoît Coeuré.

Michel Barnier, the European Union’s financial- services chief, has joined calls from the European Central Bank (ECB) for faster pooling of a planned euro-area fund to cover the costs of saving or shuttering banks.

An unexpected drop in eurozone inflation raises pressure on the ECB to consider fresh policy action next week to counter deflation risks and support a weak recovery that may be running out of steam.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has squared off with the European Central Bank over the pace of pooling bank levies in a euro-area resolution fund, potentially slowing the proposal’s progress into law.

The European Central Bank may raise rates if inflation pressure increases, even after it pledged to keep borrowing costs low, according to Germany’s Bundesbank.

Lobbying against the EU’s Robin Hood-style financial transaction tax has been ramped up following the apparent intervention of the European Central Bank.

Central Bank director Fiona Muldoon has warned that half of the €50bn loans to SMEs are in some form of distress.

Germany yesterday held firm in insisting it was too soon to say that Greece deserved more time to meet its deficit-cutting goals, even as the head of the IMF laid out the case for leniency.

ECB executive board member Benoît Coeuré said policy makers may not cut interest rates further as confidence in the eurozone’s economic outlook is improving and inflation remains high.

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.

There is consensus amongeconomic commentators that the European Central Bank is set to cut its rate by 0.25% tomorrow, in an effort to keep inflation in check.

The European Central Bank is expected to discuss interest rate cuts at its next meeting but although reducing rates from an all-time low of 1% was possible, it would not be a cure-all, an ECB executive board member has declared.

European stocks rebounded from a two-month low yesterday and Spanish bonds rose after an ECB official signalled that the bank may revive its bond-purchase programme.

Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy rounded on his Italian counterpart Mario Monti yesterday by calling on European leaders to be more careful when they talk about Spain as it struggles to show markets it can control its finances.

EUROPEAN Central Bank President Mario Draghi agreed to put Belgium’s Peter Praet in charge of the bank’s economics division, ignoring calls from Germany that one of its nationals should keep the job.