Eurozone growth speeding up, says Euro bank president

23 marzo 2015

1 min di lettura

(AGI) Brussels, Mar 23 - European growth is "gaining momentumand the basis for the economic recovery in the euro area hasclearly strengthened", European Central Bank President MarioDraghi said on Monday. The bank decided it had to reviseDecember forecasts for this year up 0.5 percent and for 2016 up0.4 percent, he said in Brussels. This was due to the fall inoil prices, an increase in demand and easier finance "driven byour accommodative monetary policy, and the depreciation of theeuro". The bank's policy to buy government bonds, which beganon Mar. 9, would pump 60 billion euros a month into the economyuntil September next year or until sustained price inflationkicked in. He said this was consistent with the bank's targetto bring inflation down to around 2 percent. Inflation in theeurozone area would remain low or negative over the next fewmonths, but would rise gradually towards the end of the year.The average for this year would be equal to 0 percent, butwould rise to 1.5 percent in 2016 and 1.8 percent in 2017,according to bank forecasts. Talks with Greece were geared tocreating the conditions to renew the bail-out programme, and he said he was confident this could be achieved. However,Greece would have to honour its debt commitments in futurepolicies for the programme to be revised. The bank would beprepared to reinstate the waiver allowing it to accept Greekbonds as collateral once the bailout programme was revised.(AGI). .