- Title: ECB's Mario Draghi takes the floor for the last time
- Date: 23rd October 2019
- Summary: FRANKFURT, GERMANY (FILE - APRIL 4, 2017) (REUTERS) EXTERIORS OF EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK (ECB) HEADQUARTERS VARIOUS OF DRAGHI ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE ON THE OCCASION OF THE INTRODUCTION OF THE NEW 50 EURO BILL (SOUNDBITE) (English) ECB PRESIDENT, MARIO DRAGHI, SAYING: "Although bank notes may not receive as much attention as other aspects of our monetary policy they are a fundamental part of what we do." VARIOUS OF NEW 50 EURO BILL ON DISPLAY WITH DRAGHI'S SIGNATURE ON IT (SOUNDBITE) (English) ECB PRESIDENT, MARIO DRAGHI, SAYING: "Starting today, the new 50 euro bank note is available. Let me show it to you in physical terms. This is it. (LAUGHTER HEARD) Okay."
- Embargoed: 6th November 2019 13:30
- Keywords: ECB president mario draghi last news conference governing council board meeting profile file
- Location: FRANKFURT, GERMANY / LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- City: FRANKFURT, GERMANY / LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Economic Events
- Reuters ID: LVA004B2BG87H
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:After eight years at the helm of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi is set to hold his final news conference as ECB president on Thursday.
Draghi is due to step down on Oct. 31 after years in which he has been universally credited for preventing a break-up of the euro zone.
Former IMF managing director Christine Lagarde of France will succeed Draghi.
Draghi's term will also be remembered for his now famous words "the ECB is ready to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro" when he attended an investment conference in London.
The end of his term coincided with the publication on Wednesday of a survey among ECB staff who back Draghi's aggressive stimulus policy but resent the perception that he relied on a "kitchen cabinet" and allowed favouritism at the institution.
Draghi has been accused by fellow policymakers of failing to consult broadly and forcing through some controversial decisions, such as resuming a 2.6 trillion euro bond-buying programme last month.
The staff poll, conducted by trade union IPSO and seen by Reuters, showed that 54.5% of 735 respondents rated Draghi's presidency "very good" or "outstanding" and the support for his policy measures was even higher.
But a majority of respondents also complained about a lack of transparency in recruitment and perceived favouritism at the Frankfurt-based organisation, which will be headed by Lagarde from Nov. 1.
Over three-quarters of respondents thought Draghi had helped boost the institution's reputation, the same survey showed.
The ECB has had to cancel six appointments over the last few years as a result of appeals by staff representatives.
The institution does not provide a breakdown of its staff by nationality.
But four out of six counsellors to the ECB's Executive Board members come from Germany, as do the top three managers at its statistics directorate and ten out of 26 managers in its monetary policy and economics directorates, according to IPSO calculations.
(Production: Andreas Buerger, Michele Sani) - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None