Holding a press conference after the announcement of the European Central Bank's latest policy decision, its president Christine Lagarde noted that the euro area's economy remains weak but added that the surveys point to a pick-up this year. In her opinion, risks to economic growth remain tilted to the downside.
The ECB's boss also said that inflation will decline to the 2% target, admitting that longer-term inflation expectations mostly stand around 2%. However, Lagarde added that the ECB's policymakers are not sufficiently confident on inflation to cut interest rates. “We clearly need more evidence, more detail,” she stressed.
According to Lagarde, the rate-setters will know a little more in April but a lot more in June.