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Euro zone countries need structural reforms, says ECB chief

Xinhua, May 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

Euro zone countries must continue to implement structural reforms to achieve economic growth, the president of the European Central Bank (ECB) Mario Draghi said on Friday.

Addressing a major economic forum, Draghi said the economic perspectives for the euro zone were the brightest in seven years, but said more efforts were needed.

"This is by no means the end of our challenges, and a cyclical recovery alone will not solve all of Europe's problems," he said. "It doesn't eliminate the debt burden that affects parts of the union."

He called for governments to get involved "systematically" in structural reforms to "anchor the return to growth."

While pointing out that monetary policies helped bring back the economy's potential, Draghi said structural reforms could raise that potential and bring "durable stability and prosperity" to the euro zone.

Despite his optimism, Draghi warned that current previsions forecast growth in the euro zone to be below 1 percent and that high unemployment could become permanent.

The forum, which ends on Saturday, is attended by leading academics and central bank chiefs including the Bank of England governor Mark Carney, Bank of Ireland governor Patrick Honohan and Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda. Endit