It has propped up much of Europe's banking system; it has intervened in government bond markets. It pushed – successfully – for publication of bank “stress tests” and has set out audacious proposals for political reform of the 11-year-old single currency. At the same time, its president has been tirelessly lobbying politicians to take emergency action and embrace fiscal discipline.

For an institution supposedly dedicated solely to the dull, but essential, role of fighting inflation, the European Central Bank has been having a busy time.

The bank's sharp rise in influence is among the most dramatic shifts wrought on the Continent's economic landscape by the crises of the past three years. Previously, the ECB's image was of a fiercely independent central bank focused on combating inflation, whose cautious instincts fitted the sleepy atmosphere in Frankfurt, its home town.