More stimulus a matter of time, say analysts, as ECB heads to Malta meet

Frankfurt

A ROCKY outcrop exposed to the elements appears to be just the right setting for the European Central Bank to discuss whether the euro-area economy needs more help.

ECB president Mario Draghi will convene his Governing Council on the Mediterranean island of Malta this week to set monetary policy for a 19-nation region that is seeing its recovery buffeted by slowing international trade and global market volatility. Officials are likely to say by the end of the year that they have no choice but to add stimulus, and may even reach that conclusion as soon as Thursday, according to economists in a Bloomberg survey.

While ECB speakers have publicly trailed the line that it's too early to tell whether an emerging market downturn and commodity price slump will derail the euro area's sluggish revival, the pressures are mounting. Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny sent the euro tumbling last week when he said even core inflation, whi…