Draghi says no additional stimulus needed at this time

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said that no additional stimulus is needed at this time, although it left the door open to further easing in the future.

Draghi noted that the Governing Council did not discuss the extension of QE at this meeting, and that they are working on a smooth implementation of the announced policies.

Draghi however, did not ruled out further non-standard measures in the future. He reiterated that the monthly asset purchases of €80 billion are intended to run until the end of March 2017, “or beyond, if necessary, and in any case until the Governing Council sees a sustained adjustment in the path of inflation consistent with its inflation aim.”

Regarding economic projections, the ECB lowered its growth forecasts to 1.6% in both 2017 and 2018 from 1.7% in June. However it lifted 2016 growth forecast to 1.7% versus 1.6% in June. The ECB also cut their inflation forecast for 2017 to 1.2% from 1.3% in June.