Mario Draghi’s press conference after ECB shuts door to rate cuts – business live

European Central Bank has raised its growth forecasts, and cut its inflation forecasts, after dropping pledge to lower rates if needed.

Q: Did the ECB discuss when to start normalising monetary policy?

No, says Draghi…. but then he remembers that two council members made some observations about this issue.

#Draghi reports about mild exchanges in the GC about prospective changes in monetary policies, with two members raising the issue.

#Draghi: “2 council members” expressed a different view on the #ECB policy normalization. Guess who in the Spectrometer… pic.twitter.com/gxq5NlE9S1

Q: Could a prolonged lower inflation rate force the ECB to change its forward guidance and raise its negative deposit rate before ending its QE programme? [currently it promises to complete the asset purchase scheme before tackling interest rates]

“No, no” says Draghi, emphatically.

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