European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi speaks at a news conference during the IMF/World Bank annual meetings in Washington, U.S., October 14, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
October 18, 2017
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Easy monetary policy gives euro zone governments a window of opportunity to enact the reforms needed to boost growth once interest rates have to rise, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said on Wednesday.
“ECB research finds no convincing evidence that high interest rates lead to more reforms,” Draghi told a conference in Frankfurt. “In fact, the opposite is more likely to be true: lower rates tend to promote reforms, since they lead to a better macroeconomic environment.”
“With monetary policy being accommodative, we now have a window of opportunity to take these measures,” Draghi added.
(Reporting by Francesco Canepa; Editing by Balazs Koranyi)
