Following the hold of the ECB to the interest rate at its record low of 0.50 percent today, ECB President Mario Draghi delivered a speech to give an update the bank’s monetary policy and the economy.
Draghi repeated that the economy will gradually recover, at subdued pace, later this year and in 2014 as sentiment indicators showed further improvement in the 17-nation region, where policy stance should support domestic demand.
However, he reminded that growth risks remains to the downside. He confirmed that interest rate would remain at the current low level or even lower for an extended period of time, while monetary stance “will remain accommodative for as long as necessary.”