"Painful but necessary" reforms being implemented in the eurozone periphery should be continued, as they will ultimately be in the interest of all citizens, Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, told members of the Spanish parliament in a meeting on February 12.

Draghi praised Spain for keeping up with its deficit targets and the plan for cleaning up its banking system and said he was "very conscious" of the difficulties being inflicted on the population, particularly those