6 Feb 2014
ECB's Draghi refrains from announcing changes to monetary policy
FXStreet (Łódź) - At the press conference following the ECB Governing Council's announcement that interest rates would stay unchanged at 0.25% in February, ECB head Mario Draghi reiterated the central bank's forward guidance of keeping interest rates at present or lower levels for an extended period of time.
The ECB head stated that the economic recovery in the Eurozone was progressing as predicted, but that inflation would stay low for a prolonged period, before returning to the ECB's objective of 2% in the medium term. The Governing Council would continue “monitoring developments closely" and is ready to take “decisive action” if required.
Furthermore, Mario Draghi pointed to the uncertainty in emerging markets as a risk for the Eurozone recovery. He counted weak domestic demand and a slow implementation of structural reforms by some of the EU national governments among other risks.
During the Q&A part of the press conference the ECB head said that so far euro area financial markets have shown resilience to the current emerging market risks. “Much more resilience than eight or nine months ago,” he stressed.
Draghi also assured that there was no threat of deflation for the Eurozone and that nothing suggested the area could find itself in Japan's situation.
The ECB head stated that the economic recovery in the Eurozone was progressing as predicted, but that inflation would stay low for a prolonged period, before returning to the ECB's objective of 2% in the medium term. The Governing Council would continue “monitoring developments closely" and is ready to take “decisive action” if required.
Furthermore, Mario Draghi pointed to the uncertainty in emerging markets as a risk for the Eurozone recovery. He counted weak domestic demand and a slow implementation of structural reforms by some of the EU national governments among other risks.
During the Q&A part of the press conference the ECB head said that so far euro area financial markets have shown resilience to the current emerging market risks. “Much more resilience than eight or nine months ago,” he stressed.
Draghi also assured that there was no threat of deflation for the Eurozone and that nothing suggested the area could find itself in Japan's situation.