The European Central Bank decided to abstain from any bald statements, summing up the results of its last meeting. Generally speaking, participants of the global financial markets did not expect any strong comments from the regulator. However, they hoped to hear forecasts on the future of the bond-buying program.
Analysts expected the ECB to announce approximate time of the start of program winding down. The interest rates remained unchanged: -0.4% per annum for deposits and 0.25% per annum for margin loans. In his speech, ECB President Mario Draghi gave new forecasts for the European economy. They were revised upwards to 2.2% from 1.9%. In 2018 and 2019, the region's economy is expected to slow down to 1.8% and 1.7%, respectively. "The incoming information, including our new staff projections, confirms a broadly unchanged medium-term outlook for euro area economic growth and inflation. The economic expansion, which accelerated more than expected in the first half of 2017, continues to be solid and broad-based across countries and sectors," Mario Draghi said.
Meanwhile, the actions of the ECB had the necessary effect. Extremely low inflation, which was the main problem for the regulator over the last few years, began to grow. It is still below the target of 2%, but the general upward trend remains. Now, the consumer price index is expected to reach 1.5% and 1.3% in 2017 and 2018, respectively. In general, Mario Draghi did not surprise the markets, as all actions and decisions had been expected. However, it can be a good thing since lately the markets has already suffered a lot of distress.
