ECB hits back at intervention calls

The European Central Bank hit back at eurozone governments that have called for the bank to intervene more decisively to tackle the sovereign debt crisis, warning of severe economic and social costs if its credibility was put at risk.

Mario Draghi, the new ECB president, insisted that governments must implement agreed reforms to rescue their economies, at the end of a week in which he has come under intense pressure to step up ECB bond market intervention to stem a sharp rise in borrowing costs across the eurozone.

F.T.