Frankfurt (AFP)

The European Central Bank has called on countries with budget margins to "act" to revive the economy in the eurozone, a thinly veiled allusion to Germany's reluctance to untie its purse strings.

Governments "should act quickly and efficiently" to remedy the weakening economic situation, said its president Mario Draghi, after having announced beforehand a wide cocktail of anti-crisis measures for the 19 euro states.

New, this formula is primarily a message to Germany that began this week the review of its 2020 budget without providing specific stimulus, even though it could enter a "technical recession" in the third quarter of this year.

The first European economy has accumulated surpluses in the public accounts since 2014, despite calls from its partners and international institutions to spend more.

"There was unanimity" within the board of governors "that fiscal policy should be the main instrument" of support for the economy, hammered Draghi.

- 'A black day' -

The insistence of the Italian to remind the states of their duties can be interpreted as an "admission" of the ECB "on the fact that the effectiveness of its measures is now limited," says DZ Bank in a note of analysis.

The institution announced on Thursday a new anti-crisis package, including the relaunch of its controversial program of public debt purchases and the lowering for the first time since March 2016 of its "deposit" rate, a measure intended to incite banks to lend to businesses and households, rather than letting their cash in the central bank sleep.

For eight years he has been in office, Mario "Draghi has flooded the euro area with money (...) and adds more with more purchases of debt," lamented the popular newspaper Bild. In a comment on his site, he described Thursday as a "black day" for German savers, who saw interest melt on their savings.

For the head of the Berlin-based institute DIW, however, Angela Merkel's coalition government would be well advised to take the demands of the ECB seriously.

"Germany is also responsible for low rates because of its policy of excessive economy," said Marcel Fratzscher, referring to the country's trade surpluses and its economic policy at all costs, even as the country needs investments in its road and digital infrastructures or in its schools.

- Construction site for Lagarde -

Increasingly contested, the German fiscal dogma is based on two rules: the prohibition to contract any new federal debt exceeding 0.35% of GDP per year ("Schuldenbremse"), inscribed since 2011 in the Constitution, and the commitment additional federal budget at least in balance ("Schwarze Null"), respected since 2014.

The constitutional rule nevertheless provides for derogations in the event of economic crisis, natural disaster or "extraordinary emergencies", thus providing the government with room for maneuver.

Mr Draghi also reiterated his wish that the states of the euro area continue their structural reforms, as he hammered for years, a phrase that is this time rather the countries of the South.

The coordination of monetary policy with that of the States has for years been an issue in the euro zone, as analysts fear that the ECB has exhausted its cartridges.

This project is one of the main left to the director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, who will succeed Mario Draghi at the end of October: former Minister, she presents a profile more political and is eagerly awaited on its ability to convince governments.

© 2019 AFP