A "large majority" of the European Central Bank's governing council was in favour of an immediate launch of bond purchases to avert deflation, ECB chief Mario Draghi said Thursday.
The 25-strong body was "unanimous" on the principle that such a programme was a valid monetary policy tool, Draghi told a news conference after announcing that the ECB planned to buy 60 billion euros ($70 billion) of bonds per month to boost inflation.
And a "large majority" was in favour of taking such measures "now"," he added.