European Central Bank launches bond-buying program to save the euro

President of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi announced Thursday a new unlimited bond-buying program that is supposed to ease the EU's debt crisis by lowering borrowing costs.

He said, according to the BBC, it would provide a "fully effective backstop." He then reaffirmed his backing of the euro, saying it was "irreversible."

Basically, the ECB will buy bonds from indebted countries, easing their debt burden.

According to Reuters, Draghi's announcement met analysts' expectations.

"The details … released today add to the credibility of the safety net taking shape in the euro zone and should support demand for euro zone assets," G10 strategist at CitiFX Andrew Cox said.

The Associated Press highlighted significant details of the new plan:

"Draghi confirmed that the central bank was creating a new bond-buying program, called Outright Monetary Transactions. The so-called OMT, which will replace a previous mothballed program, will see the ECB buying government bonds with maturities of one to three years. It will have no limits."

The BBC quoted Merkel from a joint news conference earlier today:

"We have to restore confidence in the euro as a whole," she said. "So that the international markets have confidence that member countries will fulfil their commitments."

Here's what the Wall Street Journal had to say: