AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - European Central Bank President Mario Draghi on Monday put pressure on governments to push ahead with plans for closer European integration to address the euro zone crisis' core problems. He said that was not something the central bank could do. The ECB bought euro zone governments time to bring down debt levels and boost competitiveness with a new bond purchase programme it launched in September, but plans for closer European integration have hit difficulties.

The European Central Bank cannot step into the breach left by a lack of action by eurozone governments to solve the region's debt crisis, but is ready to do whatever it can to play its part, ECB chief Mario Draghi said Thursday. "We cannot replace lack of capital in the banking system or the lack of actions by governments," Draghi told a news conference after the ECB left its interest rates unchanged for the ninth month in a row. "The most stimulative measure is to pay the arrears. The ECB cannot replace governments on that front, or on structural reforms," he said.

By Luke Baker BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Central Bank President Mario Draghi gave EU leaders a crash course in macroeconomics late on Thursday, emphasising his concerns about low productivity and high labour costs hurting the euro zone's prospects, officials said. In a two-hour session with the euro zone's 17 heads of state and government, Draghi, a former professor of economics and political science, took his audience through a range of slides and charts depicting the region's divergences.

The European Central Bank Thursday held its main refinancing rate at a historic low of 0.75 percent, playing down concerns that political gridlock in Italy could trigger a resurgence in the debt crisis. The ECB's policy-setting governing council discussed a possible cut in interest rates at its regular monthly meeting, but the consensus was to hold them steady, ECB chief Mario Draghi told a news conference that followed the decision. "Yes, we discussed the possibility of doing it. But the prevailing consensus was to leave rates unchanged," Draghi said.