Inflation data may tip the scales in favour of large-scale ECB bond buys

Zurich

MARIO Draghi will this week get his first taste of one of the dominant challenges for the euro-area economy for 2015.

Consumer prices probably recorded the first annual decline in more than five years in December amid a slide in the cost of oil, aggravating concern at the European Central Bank (ECB) that subdued inflation will become entrenched. With Italy in recession, French momentum lacklustre and Germany struggling to leave a weak patch behind, policymakers are haggling over stimulus as governments drag their feet on economic reforms.