Speaking to reporters after overseeing a meeting of the E.C.B. governing council for the first time, Mr. Draghi put the emphasis on risks to growth rather than prices. He warned that the bank was likely to make a “significant downward revision” in its forecast for euro zone growth and that data signals a mild recession.
“In such an environment, price, cost and wage pressures in the euro area should also be moderate,” he said. “Today’s decision takes this into account.”
But Mr. Draghi disappointed those who want the E.C.B. to aggressively buy European government bonds, using its ability to print money to overwhelm the market and stamp out the debt crisis. He stuck to the E.C.B. position that the bond purchases are temporary and limited, and justified solely as a way for the bank to maintain its control over interest rates.
Rather, it is up to national leaders to regain investor confidence by controlling spending and removing excessive regulations and other obstacles to growth, Mr. Draghi said.
“The first and foremost responsibility for maintaining financial stability lies with national economic policies,” he said.
European stocks and U.S. index futures both rose sharply after the E.C.B. rate announcement. The Euro Stoxx 50 index climbed 3.1 percent, helped by signs that Greece would move ahead with the bailout plan, was up 2.19 percent late Thursday. The euro traded at $1.3773, up from $1.3747 late Wednesday in New York.
The official annual inflation rate in the euro zone is 3 percent, well above the E.C.B.’s target of 2 percent. But many economists argue that, with factories producing below capacity and ample data pointing to a downturn, there is little threat of sustained inflation.
Analysts were divided ahead of the meeting Thursday on whether Mr. Draghi would oversee a rate cut only two days after taking office. Some said the cautious Mr. Draghi would avoid any bold moves and seek to establish his credentials as an inflation fighter. He must cope with German members of the E.C.B. governing council who regard price stability as sacred, and who probably opposed a cut.
But others argued that Mr. Draghi, who earned a doctorate in economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, would realize that the danger of a downturn was much greater than the risk of price increases. In addition, they argued that Mr. Draghi would want to show that the E.C.B. will be a defender of euro zone growth and stability in contrast to the disarray of euro zone politics.
Mr. Draghi said the decision to cut rates was unanimous, a surprise considering the reverence with which German members of the E.C.B. governing council regard price stability.
Mr. Draghi assumes office as Greece appears close to leaving the euro zone and the very survival of the common currency is in doubt.
He rejected suggestions Greece could leave the euro zone, saying there is no legal provision for the country to do so. “It’s not in the treaty,” he said. “I have nothing to add to that.”
Mr. Draghi’s first meeting of the E.C.B. governing council as president also coincided with a meeting of Group of 20 leaders in Cannes, which is being dominated by Greece and the debt crisis.
Mr. Draghi plans to meet with G-20 leaders Thursday night in Cannes, but said he will attend only in his capacity as chairman of a panel that makes recommendations on bank regulation.
Before taking office, Mr. Draghi said little about his intentions. So there has been intense speculation about how energetically the E.C.B. will continue to intervene in government bond markets to hold down borrowing costs of stricken countries, including Mr. Draghi’s native Italy.
Italy has emerged as the greatest threat to the euro because of its political turmoil, poorly performing economy, and debt equal to 120 percent of annual economic output.
Measures by the E.C.B. to help Italy will be politically sensitive for Mr. Draghi, who was previously governor of the country’s central bank. He may be anxious to demonstrate that he will not give preference to Italian problems.
The E.C.B. is also vulnerable to criticism that Italians now have undue influence on the governing council. In addition to Mr. Draghi, Lorenzo Bini Smaghi is a member of the E.C.B. executive board as well as the governing council. Ignazio Visco, Mr. Draghi’s successor as governor of the Bank of Italy, is a member of the governing council, as are all 17 central bank chiefs in the euro zone.
No other country has more than two representatives on the 23-member council.