EUR News

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said on Thursday that the economic recovery in the euro area is uneven and cautioned that the crisis in Ukraine could hurt growth in the region.

"Inflation expectations for the euro area over the medium to long term continue to be firmly anchored in line with our aim of maintaining inflation rates below, but close to, 2 percent," Draghi said in his introductory remarks at the customary post-meeting press conference in Frankfurt.

"The monetary policy measures decided in early June have led to an easing of the monetary policy stance."

The ECB expects the targeted longer-term refinancing operations, or TLTROs, announced in June and scheduled to take place over the coming months to enhance the accommodative monetary policy stance.

"This should help to ease funding conditions further and stimulate credit provision to the real economy," Draghi said.

The central bank has accelerated the initial steps for outright purchases in the asset-backed securities market to enhance the functioning of the monetary policy transmission mechanism, he reiterated.

"The key ECB interest rates will remain at present levels for an extended period of time in view of the current outlook for inflation," Draghi said.

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German economic confidence weakened sharply to the weakest level since December 2012 as geopolitical tensions weighed on analyst expectations, the results of a closely watched survey from the Mannheim-based Centre for European Economic Research/ZEW showed Tuesday. The indicator of economic sentiment plunged by 18.5 points to 8.6 in August, while it was forecast to drop to 17.

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The German economy contracted more-than-expected in the second quarter on weaker exports and investment, while France stagnated for the second straight time, forcing the government to discard its 2014 deficit target. Germany's gross domestic product fell 0.2 percent sequentially, after expanding by a revised 0.7 percent in the first quarter, preliminary figures from Destatis showed Thursday.

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Eurozone's trade surplus increased unexpectedly in June, data showed Monday.

The trade surplus rose to EUR 16.8 billion in June from EUR 15.4 billion in May, Eurostat reported. Economists had expected the trade surplus to decrease to EUR 15.1 billion.

Exports increased 3 percent year-over-year and imports grew 2 percent in June.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the trade surplus fell to EUR 13.8 billion in June from EUR 15.2 billion in May.

Exports fell 0.5 percent month-over-month, after rising 0.7 percent in the previous month. Meanwhile, imports grew at a stable rate of 0.5 percent in June.


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France's leading index, which measures the future economic activity, remained unchanged in June from the previous month, results of a survey by the Conference Board showed Friday.

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Eurozone retail sales declined more than expected in July, figures from Eurostat showed on Wednesday.

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German manufacturing sector turnover increased at a faster rate in July, a report from German statistical office DESTATIS showed Monday.

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European Central Bank President Mario Draghi urged governments to revive investment that is essential to bring in a sustainable recovery in the bloc. "A decisive rise in investment is essential to bring inflation where we would want to see it, to kick-start the economy and to bring down unemployment," he said at Eurofi Financial Forum in Milan late Thursday.

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Germany's investor confidence weakened less-than-expected in September, reports said Tuesday citing data from the Centre for European Economic Research/ZEW.

The ZEW economic sentiment index fell to 6.9, which was above economists' forecast for a score of 5. In August, the index reading was 8.6.

The current conditions index of the survey, meanwhile, tumbled to 25.4, which was well below the consensus expectation of 40. In August, the reading was 44.3.

The Eurozone economic sentiment index of the survey eased to 14.2 in September. In August, the reading was 23.7.

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The European Central Bank remains ready to use additional unconventional tools to counter risks to the inflation outlook and to boost the euro area economy, ECB President Mario Draghi said on Monday. "The Governing Council remains fully determined to counter risks to the medium-term outlook for inflation," Draghi said in Brussels.

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