Euro zone economy still needs ECB support: Draghi

[FRANKFURT] The euro zone's economic recovery is picking up strength but still requires stimulus, so the European Central Bank is not ready to withdraw support, ECB President Mario Draghi told the European Parliament's committee on economic affairs on Monday.

Inflation may be picking up but largely due to the one-off impact of oil price rise and the ECB will look through the spike if deemed temporary, Mr Draghi told a hearing. "Support from our monetary policy measures is still needed if inflation rates are to converge towards our objective with sufficient confidence and in a sustained manner," Mr Draghi said.

"Our monetary policy strategy prescribes that we should not react to individual data points and short-lived increases in inflation," Mr Draghi said. "We therefore continue to look through changes in HICP inflation if we believe they do not durably affect the medium-term outlook for price stability.

REUTERS