ECB says to review monetary policy stance in March

[FRANKFURT] The European Central bank will "review and possibly reconsider" it monetary policy stance when it next meets in March because of weaker-than-expected inflation dynamics in the eurozone, ECB President Mario Draghi said on Thursday.

"In the meantime, work will be carried out to ensure that all the technical conditions are in place to make the full range of policy options available for implementation if needed,"Draghi told a news conference after the ECB left rates on hold.

The ECB is due to review the "technical parameters" of its asset-purchase programme in the spring.

Analysts have said it might tweak it to address the distortions it is causing in some smaller markets, such as covered bonds, and the risk of hitting the upper limit on how many German bonds it can buy.

If the outlook for inflation and global growth continues to worsen, however, the ECB could also use the review to make more substantial changes to the programme, such as increasing the amount of monthly purchases or broadening the pool of assets it can buy, the analysts said.

REUTERS