ECB stimulus working, maintains Draghi

Frankfurt

EUROPEAN Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi has called for critics of his central bank policy to give the unprecedented stimulus measures time to work, and urged governments to help.

"Our policies work, they are effective - just give them time," the ECB head told reporters in Frankfurt on Thursday after policymakers kept interest rates unchanged at record lows and maintained asset purchases at 80 billion euros (S$122 billion) a month. "If there were also structural reforms, the effect of these policies would be quicker."

As the ECB battles to revive inflation and sustain economic growth in the 19-nation euro area, it has come under attack from German politicians who say the policy burdens savers and wrecks retirement plans. At the same t…