European Central Bank President Mario Draghi quashed talk of anearly exit from emergency stimulus measures as Spain struggled toborrow in financial markets, a reminder of the risk that theregion's debt crisis could flare again.

Speaking just hours after Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoywarned his country faces “extreme difficulty,” Draghi said talk ofthe ECB starting to withdraw its support for euro-area banks is“premature.” At the same time, in a nod to growing inflationconcerns in Germany, Draghi said the ECB won't hesitate to counterupside price risks if needed. Policy makers left their benchmarkrate at a record low of 1 percent today.

The ECB has expanded its balance sheet by about 30 percent sinceDraghi took office in November, pumping more than 1 trillion euros($1.3 trillion) into the banking system in a bid to stem the debtcrisis. Pressure to unwind the emergency measures is rising inGermany, where workers are winning some of the biggest payincreases in two decades, threatening to stoke inflation.