Respected British business newspaper the ‘Financial Times’ has voted European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi its ‘Person of the Year’.
The newspaper lauded the 65-year-old Italian for his role in saving the euro single currency shared by 17 European countries. It quoted Draghi’s announcement on 26 July that “Within our mandate, the ECB is ready to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro. And believe me, it will be enough.”
At the time of the announcement, borrowing costs were climbing in Greece, Spain and Italy, causing the financial markets to question the euro’s ability to survive. The ‘Financial Times’ cited Draghi’s central role in the euro crisis as earning him its accolade of ‘Person of the Year’. The newspaper said that his announcement to defend the single currency may well be seen as a turning point and that he may be remembered as “the man who saved the euro”.
A banker and economist, Draghi was governor of the Bank of Italy before he assumed the role of ECB president in November 2011. Only a month later, he introduced longer-term refinancing operation for banks, overseeing a €489 billion three-year loan programme from the ECB to European banks. In February 2012, he initiated another round of ECB loans to European banks.
Draghi’s actions in winning the confidence of European heads of state and the financial markets have earned him the nickname ‘Super Mario’.
