The European Central Bank (ECB) launched new bond purchases worth 750 billion euros ($820bn) at an emergency meeting late on Wednesday in a bid to stop a pandemic-induced financial rout shredding the eurozone's economy and renew concerns about the bloc's viability.
With much of Europe in lockdown amid the coronavirus outbreak, economic activity has come to a near standstill and markets have been in a tailspin, foreshadowing a deep recession on par with the 2008 global financial crisis and raising questions about the eurozone's cohesion at times of stress.