ECB chief urges action on rescue fund

European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi told euro zone governments on Friday to act fast to get their rescue fund up and running, expressing exasperation at their lack of progress in response to an escalating debt crisis.

With the ECB under intense pressure to play a greater role in tackling the euro zone crisis, Draghi said governments had failed to put into practice decisions underpinning the European Financial Stability Facility – the rescue fund which they have promised to give more firepower without yet explaining how.

"Where is the implementation of these long-standing decisions?" Draghi said at a banking conference in Frankfurt. "We should not be waiting any longer."

While the ECB, with strong German support, is anxious to remain free from political interference and resisting calls from some European governments to take major action in response to the spreading debt crisis, it has made limited bond purchases that have steadied investors' nerves.

Deutsche Bank Chief Executive Josef Ackermann said European states could not rely on the ECB to solve the euro zone debt crisis. "The ECB's primary role should not be to take up these bonds," he said.

Euro zone governments have set a December deadline to strengthen the EFSF but these efforts have been undermined by delays, surging borrowing costs and scant investor interest.