Speaking in Sintra, Portugal, Mr Draghi said that “monetary policy has inevitably created destabilising spillovers…. the large exchange rates fluctuations between major currencies… are testament to that".

His comments came in the wake of the pound’s 8pc tumble against the euro since the UK voted to leave the European Union. Sterling is the third most influential currency in the ECB’s calculations of the euro’s trade-weighted strength, accounting for more than 10pc of its value.

Mr Draghi said: “Divergent monetary policies among major central banks can create uncertainty… which in turn leads to higher exchange rate volatility.”

“That then has to be countered with more expansionary monetary policy, increasing spillover effects for others,” he continued, suggesting that waves of interest rate cuts and quantitative easing by domestic central banks could have negative impacts on other economies.

The ECB president said that competitive devaluations of this kind, often known as currency wars, were a “lose-lose for the global economy, since they only lead to greater market volatility, to which other central banks are then forced to react”.