- Mario Draghi, ECB President
The European Central Bank President Mario Draghi voiced another strong hint that the bank is ready to act decisively to combat weak inflation. Draghi said that even though inflation is low globally, it would not stop the central bank from adding stimulus to the Euro zone if necessity arises. Moreover, the risk of acting too late is greater than that of acting too early as a wait-and-see mode could result in a lasting loss of confidence. The ECB is currently reviewing its monetary policy actions and policy makers will decide on March 10 whether the current plan of negative interest rates and a 1.5 trillion-euro QE programme yield fruit. Meanwhile, the latest data showed consumer prices in the Euro area climbed an annual 0.4% in January and the rate is likely to turn negative in coming months. The reading has been below 1% for more than two years. While Euro zone's unemployment dropped to the lowest level in four years in December, the region's manufacturing and services industries lowered prices at the quickest pace in almost a year in January, underscoring challenges for the ECB to bring inflation to the targeted level.
Draghi said Japan's experience showed how global monetary policy makers could underpin inflation if they were fully committed to doing so.
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