( CNN ) -- Backed into a corner and desperate ; That 's the view of some economists watching the European Central Bank 's latest attempts to curtail the euro bloc 's recession . Thursday 's interest rate cut , designed to combat a three-year debt crisis , will not stimulate economic growth in the bloc , they say . Less than a year after the ECB President Mario Draghi buoyed the markets with his promise to do `` whatever it takes '' to keep the currency together , the central bank 's governors move has left some economists questioning whether the ECB has reached the limits of its power . Speaking in Bratislava , Slovakia , ECB President Mario Draghi said the central bank is `` ready to act if needed . '' But the Italian shied away from announcing any extraordinary policy measures such as another `` big bazooka '' to increase bank liquidity or the unlimited purchases of government debt -- known as OMTs -- for troubled eurozone nations that sparked controversy in September . Read more : The eurozone 's reluctant leader . Joerg Rocholl , president of the European School of Management and Technology , told CNN that the rate cut is `` a desperate move , '' and means the ECB can avoid criticism that it is `` overstretching its mandate . '' Despite the ECB 's commitment to bankroll ailing eurozone nations who request a full sovereign bailout by buying up government bonds , it has so far resisted the temptation to implement aggressive monetary stimulus . That intransigence puts it at odds with many of its peers around the world . The Bank of Japan , the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England have all embarked on a process of quantitative easing -- increasing the supply of money in the economy -- while also introducing other policies such as an unemployment benchmark and a funding for lending scheme , intended to encourage banks to loan to small businesses . Read more : Will ` Abenomics ' lift Japan from recession ? Mujtaba Rahman , head of research firm Eurasia Group 's Europe practice , said Draghi `` exhausted '' his political capital when he introduced the OMT program in September . Italian and Spanish bonds , which had been been weighed down by market uncertainty , rebounded . Rahman added the ECB may be reluctant to announce new support measures because it breeds inertia among politicians looking to push through changes , such as a banking union , needed to bring Europe closer together . He said : `` The wind has gone out of the sails on banking union . Once you announce intervention , you remove the incentive for countries to put the necessary structures in place . '' He told CNN that `` shovelling money '' to small businesses in peripheral Europe is the most likely next step for the ECB , but says the German elections and legality of the ECB 's current bond-purchasing program are obstacles to any extraordinary policy announcements in future . With the worst hit countries in Europe in a depression and unemployment rising , the ECB could be forced to take more action , in addition to the current measures , to prevent the crisis worsening . Greece and Spain are both suffering with unemployment above 27 % while Italy is drowning in a government debt of almost 2 trillion euros ( $ 2.6 trillion ) , according to Eurostat -- the European Commission 's data service . Read more : May Day protesters flood streets of Europe . Joerg Kraemer , chief economist at Commerzbank -- Germany 's second-largest bank -- would expect the ECB to cut the deposit rate to negative territory before putting in place any other non-standard measures such as a loan scheme for small businesses . He said that the central bank is `` in a corner '' and has already exceeded its mandate significantly . Peripheral countries must stop expecting the ECB to come up with solutions to problems that should be solved by governments , he added . `` We are already seeing drastic action , '' Kraemer told CNN , `` the ECB has a very expansionary monetary policy , which I personally think , is too expansionary . '' He added : `` This immediately puts the reform pressure off the peripheral countries and especially Italy . Without far reaching reforms you do n't solve the reasons and the causes for the sovereign debt crisis . ''
Speaking in Bratislava , Bratislava , the European Commission 's President Mario Draghi said the central bank is `` ready to act if needed . '' Mario Draghi said ECB may be reluctant to announce new support measures because it breeds political inertia . Greece , Greece are both suffering with unemployment above 27 % while Italy struggling with high government debt .