Draghi to tell EU leaders to step up reforms

Frankfurt

THE head of the European Central Bank is set to tell European leaders in stark terms at a summit next week that they need to reform straggling economies or risk blunting an ambitious monetary offensive to help revive the stagnant eurozone.

As the central bank inches closer to printing money to buy government bonds, Mario Draghi has become increasingly worried about slack reform in countries such as France and Italy, which he fears will undermine the long-term boost from so-called quantitative easing (QE).