ECB is ready to do more

ECB chief Mario Draghi is confident that stimulus steps announced in June, helped by a weaker euro, will boost demand in the ailing eurozone economy, but stressed yesterday that the central bank stands ready to do more.

Speaking at the annual Jackson Hole conference of central banks in Wyoming, Draghi said recent growth data confirmed the currency bloc’s recovery remained “uniformly weak” and promised to keep the policy stance accommodative for an extended period of time.

The ECB cut interest rates to record lows in June and launched measures to pump money into the sluggish eurozone economy, where inflation has been in what Draghi has called “the danger zone” of below 1% for 10 months.