The European Central Bank left its quantitative-easing program unchanged (80 billion euros currently and 60 billion euros a month from April) as it decided to wait and see if a pickup in inflation is sustained.
Here are the highlights of Mario Draghi’s press conference:
– There are no convincing signs of an upward trend in inflation.
– ECB will continue to preserve a very substantial degree of monetary policy accommodation.
– Data shows that growth in Q4 was somewhat stronger, but outlook risks tilted to the downside because of global factors.
– ECB’s discussion today about the steps the central bank took in December was unanimous.
– ECB is ready to revise QE strategy if needed, but didn’t discuss reducing stimulus.
The fact that Draghi downplayed the significance of the recent inflation increase in the euro area is having a negative impact on the euro.
