The European Central Bank (ECB) will not assign specific risk weights to the eurozone sovereign debt held on banks' balance sheets, according to the bank's chief, Mario Draghi, who said any such decision should be made at a global level and at a later date.

Draghi today told the European Parliament that assigning different risk weights to sovereign debt was not a task for the central bank, and that it should be discussed by the Basel Committee "at the proper time".

He insisted the question of