Brussels, 12/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - The ECB may take further accommodative monetary measures in December if inflation prospects weaken, the president of the European institution, Mario Draghi, told the economic committee of the EP on Thursday 12 November.
“The inflation dynamics has tailed off”, Draghi told the MEPs. If, in December, “we were to conclude that our medium-term price stability objective is at risk, we would use all the instruments available within our mandate to ensure that an appropriate degree of monetary accommodation is maintained”, he added.
On the same day, ECB board member Benoît Coeuré told the newspapers Le Soir, Die Welt and Le Figaro that the decision to step up the quantitative easing (QE) policy had “not been taken”, as the debate is “open” (see EUROPE 11416). In December, the updated forecasts will inform the ECB's decision, Coeuré added.
The President of the ECB also confirmed that this quantitative easing programme could be extended beyond September 2016 if the ECB does not see “signs of a sustained turnaround in core inflation”. However, “other instruments could also be activated to reinforce the impact of the buyback programme if necessary”, he observed.
Draghi went on to reject criticism that the accommodative policy of the ECB was not motivating the states to carry out structural reforms, stating that many efforts in this field have been observed in several countries. “We feel that there is a temptation to rely completely on the ECB”, said Benoît Coeuré. “If the entire growth policy of the eurozone rests on the shoulders of the ECB, it will not end well (…). The governments need to act”, the French official added. (Original version in French by Elodie Lamer)