Mario Draghi prepares fresh stimulus as economic fears grow

Mario Draghi is preparing to cut interest rates and embark on a fresh round of bond purchases before he leaves the European Central Bank this autumn, in a bid to boost the eurozone’s economy and combat mounting global uncertainty over trade.

The bank was ready to “use all the instruments that are in the toolbox” if the slowdown in the bloc’s export-driven manufacturing sector began to infect other parts of the economy, the ECB president said at a press conference on Thursday after the bank’s policy meeting, adding that “the policy space is there” for any necessary measures.