Draghi: It is difficult for the ECB to intervene in the market in France in the near term

According to former European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi, it seems unlikely that the ECB will step in with a market intervention to help France anytime soon.

The veteran of the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis told Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait at the New Economic Forum in New Delhi on Thursday that the region is far from experiencing a repeat of that period and that current conditions make aid from Frankfurt still a distant possibility.

Draghi commented, "The bar is high." Former ECB President said, "At that time, there was more of a deflation, or at least inflation rates just above zero; now, inflation is high and, above all, it continues to climb. I think this is exactly the first priority for the European Central Bank, which has the task of keeping price stability under control."

France is in the focus of the markets

France has become the focus of intense market scrutiny in recent weeks as a rise in global energy prices, combined with concerns focusing on the country's ballooning budget deficits, triggered investor concerns.

Although the ECB has developed a more precise and sophisticated tool to combat turmoil, Draghi said conditions in Paris still make it likely that policymakers will remain on the sidelines. One of these factors is that the country is under the monitoring regime of the European Union due to its bloated budget deficits.

"There are no rules that say these tools cannot be used when a country is under the Excessive Budget Deficit Procedure. However, it is also a fact that the bar for such use is a little higher," Draghi said.

Outlook away from political debates and the Eurozone crisis

He added that the fact that the possibility of possible aid from Frankfurt has become the focus of domestic political discussions in France is another reason that will make officials there think twice before taking action.

"The issue of whether the ECB should intervene or not has itself become an argument and a topic of political debate in France today, which makes intervention even more difficult. I predict that the ECB will not want to be part of internal political conflicts in any country," Draghi said.

In general terms, Draghi stated that current conditions are "far from" turning into a repeat of the Eurozone debt crisis. Draghi, who took over the presidency of the ECB in late 2011, promised in July 2012 that the authorities would "do whatever it takes" to keep the euro together, which went down in history as the moment when the turmoil in the markets began to calm down.