ECB policy makers wary of further action despite uncertain future

Frankfurt

MANY European Central Bank policy makers are sceptical about the need for further policy action in the near term, conversations with five of them indicate, even as inflation expectations sink and some investors bank on more easing.

Next week's rate meeting is expected to be relatively uneventful with the big test coming when the ECB releases its initial 2018 growth and inflation forecasts on March 10.

But even were these to decline, some of the central bankers who spoke to Reuters said the ECB should not respond immediately. "We all…