Mario Draghi: Interview in Bild Interview with Mr Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank, in Bild, conducted by Mr Kai Diekmann, Mr Nikolaus Blome and Mr Daniel Biskup on 25 April 2016 and published on 28 April 2016. *  *  *  BILD: Mr Draghi, when you became President of the European Central Bank (ECB) just over four years ago, the Germans were scared that, as an Italian, you would create too much inflation. Now, even an Italian is unable to generate sufficient inflation. What is going wrong? Mario Draghi (laughs): Nothing. People in Germany can rest assured that their ECB President is doing everything to restore inflation to the right level. Our mandate is price stability, which means inflation of just below 2%. BILD: In order to achieve that, you have cut interest rates to zero. German savings are melting away like butter in the sun. Don’t you care about that? Draghi: We are well aware of the situation for savers. And it’s not only in Germany that people have to face low interest rates. But interest rates are low because growth is low and inflation is too low. Think about the alternative: if we raised rates now, it would be bad for the economy and it would unleash deflation, unemployment and recession. The interest on savings comes from growth, so it is in the interests of savers that inflation stabilises and growth becomes more robust.

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