On 26 July – one month after the Eurogroup statement – the President of the ECB, Mario Draghi, gave a speech in London containing a statement that has already become famous: “Within our mandate, the ECB is ready to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro.
And believe me, it will be enough.” The speech had a very powerful and positive impact on the markets. In retrospect, it has even been regarded as revolutionary, and with good reason. Pressures on the Spanish and Italian government bond markets began to ease, even though no detailed programme had yet been presented to concretise President Draghi’s statement.