After the ECB left the interest rates as well as the QE program unchanged, President Mario Draghi meets the press. Draghi began with optimism. He emphasized stronger economic growth and said that downside risks have diminished. The ECB fell short of saying they are balanced but did say they are getting closer. This sent EUR/USD to a high of 1.0932.
Things went downhill from there. When asked about ending the stimulus, Draghi said that they did not even discuss an exit strategy. He added that there is no need to discuss the sequencing of the exit strategy. Moreover, the ECB is not confident enough about reaching the inflation target. It seems that it is still not the time to lift the foot from the pedal. EUR/USD dropped all the way to 1.0856.
For Draghi, the bottom line was the optimism regarding the risks rather than the lack of any exit strategy on the horizon. What can we expect for June? We will know in June – there are no hints at the moment.
You can follow the full events by watching the video and/or reading through the live blog as it happened.
Live coverage – as it happened
The focus is on the tone: optimistic or pessimistic. There are reasons to be cheerful, leading us to favor the “glass half full” scenario over others. On the other hand, Draghi has proved his dovishness in the past.
Live blog – as it happened
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