The European Central pledges a new crisis tool to help heavily indebted countries

The European Central Bank said it will direct money to heavily indebted countries from debt owed in the recently expired 1.7 trillion euros ($1.8 trillion) pandemic support plan and work on a new tool to prevent excessive differentials in borrowing costs. "The Governing Council has decided to authorize the relevant Eurosystem committees along with the services of the European Central Bank to expedite the finalization of the design of a new anti-fragmentation instrument for the consideration of the Governing Council," the ECB said after an extraordinary meeting. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said the ECB should focus on returning inflation to its 2% target and fiscal considerations should not dominate policy.