Speaking ahead of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank meetings in Washington, ECB President Mario Draghi stated that the Governing Council's forward guidance of maintaining interest rates at low levels for an extended period of time would facilitate cutting borrowing costs in case of increased market volatility. “The Governing Council has unanimously agreed to incorporate an easing bias that explicitly provides for further rate reductions, should the volatility in money market conditions return to the levels observed in early summer,” the ECB head said at the Economic Club of New York on Thursday. Furthermore, Mario Draghi pointed out that market confidence about future short-term rates strengthened following the introduction of the rate pledge by the ECB.