A nail-biting time it certainly is – and if traders in Frankfurt were hoping for a magic rabbit from the European Central Bank (ECB) – they didn’t get it.
But they did get a promise – after interest rates were held again at record low levels.
MARIO DRAGHI, EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK PRESIDENT:
“It will therefore be necessary to review and possibly reconsider our monetary policy stance at our next meeting in early March.”
The market crash over worries about China and falling oil prices is being monitored.
So too its impact on inflation – a persistent problem for Draghi
MARIO DRAGHI, EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK PRESIDENT:
“Inflation rates are currently expected to remain at very low or negative levels in the coming months.”
The recent turmoil has come at a bad time for Europe. It’s fledgling recovery now under threat – or maybe not.
MARIO DRAGHI, EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK PRESIDENT:
“We expect the economic recovery to proceed. Domestic demand should be further supported by our monetary policy measures and their favourable impact on financial conditions.
Structural reforms already implemented in the euro zone should help he said.
But not everyone’s as confident.
CMC Market’s Michael Hewson:
“It is up to European governments to solve the structural problems that are bedeviling their economies to actually augment the ECB’s monetary policies. At the moment there is little evidence that that is happening. There are still significant problems in Europe.”
But Draghi was clearly trying to show there are no limitations to what he can and will do.
We have plenty of “instruments” he said and we will not “surrender” – however grim it gets in Frankfurt.
Reuters
