European Central Bank president Mario Draghi has thrown his weight behind French president Emmanuel Macron’s call for fiscal transfers between eurozone member states to bolster the long-term future of the single currency.

In an interview with the FT, Mr Draghi said higher government spending was “more urgent than before” to counter the global slowdown. He also said that a long-term commitment to fiscal union was essential for the eurozone to compete with other global powers.

“Given the inherent weakness of national states in a globalised world, what matters is to make the union stronger. In some areas, further integration achieves this goal,” Mr Draghi said, later adding: “To have a stronger EMU [economic and monetary union], we need a common eurozone budget. Clearly the political debate on that still has a long way to go. But I am optimistic.”