ECB must be 'patient' to reach inflation target: Draghi

2017-07-20 10:00:15

(MENAFN- AFP) The European Central Bank must be "patient" as it pushes to bring inflation towards its target of just below 2.0 percent, president Mario Draghi said Thursday.

Draghi sought to play down expectations that the bank could soon announce an end to its mass bond-buying policy at a press conference following a regular policymakers' meeting in Frankfurt.

"We need to be persistent, and patient," Draghi said, as "really there isn't any convincing sign of pickup" in inflation.

The ECB buys 60 billion euros ($69 billion) of government and corporate bonds per month.

Along with low interest rates and cheap loans to banks, the measure is designed to encourage growth in the 19-nation eurozone, pushing inflation towards its target.

Recent comments by central bank chiefs suggested that governors might announce a gradual winding down of the bond-buying scheme following its present cutoff date of December.

But with inflation weak despite a pickup in growth and employment in the single currency area, Draghi emphasised that monetary support was still needed to encourage price growth.

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