European Central Bank President Mario Draghihi: Some analysts say the Central Bank should flood the market with money to ease the continent's financial crisis.

Marc Tirl/dpa/Corbis

ario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, on Thursday announced a new bond-buying program intended to aid debt-saddled countries and shore up the embattled euro currency. The plan would see the ECB buy bonds directly from Spain, Italy, and other countries in a bid to lower national borrowing costs that have risen to perilously unaffordable levels. Draghi said the move would provide a "fully effective backstop to prevent potentially destructive scenarios," and dispel "unfounded" fears that the euro is on the brink of dissolution. The plan is the latest in a series of measures taken by European institutions to resolve the years-long euro crisis, which has weighed heavily on the U.S. and global economies.