ECB says no longer sees deflation risk in euro zone

FRANKFURT The European Central Bank no longer sees a risk of deflation in the euro zone, ECB President Mario Draghi said on Thursday.

“There was a sentence that has been removed from my introductory statement that used to say ‘if warranted to achieve its objective, the Governing Council will act using all the instruments available within its mandate’,” Draghi said, referring to statements made after previous policy meetings.

“That’s been removed, basically to signal that there is no longer that sense of urgency in taking further actions … that was prompted by the risks of deflation. That was the assessment of the Governing Council,” Draghi told a news conference after the ECB’s policy meeting on Thursday.

Earlier, Draghi said the ECB had revised its 2017 inflation forecast up to 1.7 percent from the 1.3 percent it saw in December. Inflation in the 19-country euro zone rose into line with the ECB’s target of just under 2 percent in February after years of undershooting.

(Editing by Catherine Evans)