020 7898 0500
ECB President, Mario Draghi, echoed the concerns of US Federal Reserve Chair, Janet Yellen, in latest ECB minutes.
In today’s ECB minutes from Frankfurt, President of the ECB, Mario Draghi, made comments equally disconcerting to global markets as those from Federal Reserve Chair, Janet Yellen, in her address earlier this month. Despite a number of fiscal stimulus measures in Europe, such as slashing interest rates and quantitative easing (QE), real concerns remain regarding faltering export markets and poor growth figures across the Eurozone – even from Germany, long considered a stalwart of the European economy. This reflects a similar situation in both the US, whose export and import markets are languishing, and China, which, until last year, was a key player in global economic trade and its subsequent growth.
Draghi voiced concerns about the EU’s ability to withstand further economic shocks, either within the bloc of 19 member countries, or from elsewhere in the world, where the economic difficulties of major trading partners such as the US, China and Japan, have a considerable impact on the fortunes of both the EU economy and its single currency.
Ongoing risks from disappointing economic results globally, along with the resulting volatile currency exchange rates, could cause irreparable damage to the already struggling economy. It could warrant further, more drastic changes to economic policy, such as buying corporate bonds as part of QE measures. Opinion was divided across the meeting participants as to whether this would prove a positive or negative mood for the EU economy, although there was a firm sense that whatever measures needed to be taken in order to improve the gloomy economic outlook would be implemented.
