The European Central Bank is ready to take action next month to boost the euro zone economy if updated inflation forecasts merit it, its president said on Thursday, warning outsiders not to pressure the bank into action.
Stressing that the euro'sstrength was "a serious concern", ECB chief Mario Draghi said the exchange rate would have to be addressed, adding that the bank's policymakers held a discussion about "all instruments" at their meeting in Brussels.
Euro zone inflation ticked up to 0.7 percent in April from March's 0.5 percent, but remains far below the ECB's target of just under 2 percent, and Draghi said: "There is consensus about being dissatisfied with the projected path of inflation."
"The governing council is comfortable with acting next time but before we want to see the staff projections that will come out in early June," he told a news conference after the ECB left interest rates on hold, as expected. [
Draghi did not specify what policy action the ECB could take beyond saying Thursday's council discussion touched on the policy instruments the central bank has mentioned previously.
These have included interest rate cuts, liquidity measures and even quantitative easing - central-bank speak for money printing to buy assets, a policy already pursued by the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan and the Bank of England.
Source: Reuters
Stressing that the euro's
Euro zone inflation ticked up to 0.7 percent in April from March's 0.5 percent, but remains far below the ECB's target of just under 2 percent, and Draghi said: "There is consensus about being dissatisfied with the projected path of inflation."
"The governing council is comfortable with acting next time but before we want to see the staff projections that will come out in early June," he told a news conference after the ECB left interest rates on hold, as expected. [
Draghi did not specify what policy action the ECB could take beyond saying Thursday's council discussion touched on the policy instruments the central bank has mentioned previously.
These have included interest rate cuts, liquidity measures and even quantitative easing - central-bank speak for money printing to buy assets, a policy already pursued by the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan and the Bank of England.
