AlHijjah 7, 1432, Nov 3, 2011, SPA -- Mario Draghi's decision on Thursday to cut interest rates for the 17-member eurozone bloc two days after becoming European Central Bank chief signals his willingness to shift the bank's focus from fighting inflation to spurring growth, dpa reported. The ECB surprised analysts by announcing a 25-basis-point rate cutat a time when inflation is at 3 per cent, higher than the 2 per cent limit set by the central bank. "It is crucial that fiscal consolidation and structural reforms gohand in hand to strengthen confidence, growth prospects and job creation," Draghi said. The rate cut move indicated that Draghi would not hesitate to move away from the ECB's mandate of fighting inflation and adopt a fiscalpolicy focused on spurring growth. "Listening to Draghi's choice of words we get the impression thathe might be slightly closer to having a US Federal Reserve policytarget i.e. putting more weight on growth," said Danske Bank analyst Anders Moller Lumholtz. At a press conference in Frankfurt after the rate cut decision,Draghi also said that the bank's controversial programme of buying bonds of debt-burdened eurozone states like Greece was temporary and limited. "What makes you think that becoming the lender of last resort for governments is what you need to keep the euro region together?"Draghi asked at the press conference. "That is not really in the remit of the ECB. The remit of the ECBis maintaining price stability in the medium term," he said. -- SPA
