European Central Bank fires starting gun on €1tn stimulus

Mario Draghi said buying assets was the final set of measures and that governments needed to pick up the baton

The European Central Bank will press the button on Monday on a a1.1tn stimulus programme that will play a major role in putting the eurozone back on track for sustained growth, its president Mario Draghi said on Thursday.

The ECB will pump the a60bn a month into the euro economy as the first phase in its quantitative easing programme that Draghi said would combine with low oil prices and recovering consumer confidence to spur growth and propel inflation back up close to its 2% target.