Mario Draghi (born 3 September 1947 in Rome) is an Italian economist and central banker whose career has shaped both eurozone monetary policy and Italian governance. He earned a PhD in economics from MIT under Franco Modigliani and Robert Solow, then worked at the World Bank, the Italian Treasury (Director General, 1991–2001), and Goldman Sachs International (2002–2005), before serving as Governor of the Banca d'Italia from 2006 to 2011.
Draghi became President of the European Central Bank on 1 November 2011, taking office at the height of the eurozone sovereign debt crisis. He is best known for his 26 July 2012 speech in London, in which he declared the ECB would do "whatever it takes to preserve the euro," a statement widely credited with calming bond markets and paving the way for the Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) program. Under his tenure the ECB launched negative interest rates and large-scale asset purchases (quantitative easing, beginning 2015). His term ended on 31 October 2019 and he was succeeded by Christine Lagarde.
On 13 February 2021, Italian President Sergio Mattarella appointed Draghi Prime Minister of a national unity government following the collapse of the Conte II cabinet. His government oversaw Italy's implementation of the EU Next Generation EU recovery plan and the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), worth roughly €191.5 billion for Italy. He resigned on 21 July 2022 after the Five Star Movement, Lega, and Forza Italia withheld support, triggering snap elections won by Giorgia Meloni's coalition.
In September 2024 Draghi delivered a commissioned report to the European Commission titled "The Future of European Competitiveness," calling for major investment increases and deeper EU integration to close productivity gaps with the United States and China.
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In July 2012, ECB President Mario Draghi told a London investor conference the ECB would do "whatever it takes" to preserve the euro, sharply narrowing Italian and Spanish bond spreads.