Europe from a Draghi Understanding : euro fall helps price competitiveness

Excerpts from Introductory statement by Mr Mario Draghi  President of the European Central Bank, Frankfurt am Main, 15 April 2015.

QUOTE

• Real GDP in the euro area rose by 0.3%, quarter on quarter, in the last quarter of 2014. Domestic demand, especially private consumption, continued to be the main driver behind the ongoing recovery.  
•  The lower level of the price of oil should continue to support households' real disposable income and corporate profitability and, therefore, private consumption and investment. Furthermore, demand for euro area exports should benefit from improvements in price competitiveness.

•  Sluggish pace of implementation of structural reforms.

• Euro area annual HICP inflation was -0.1% in March 2015, up from -0.3% in February and -0.6% in January.
• Inflation rates are expected to increase later in 2015 and to pick up further during 2016 and 2017.
•  Loan dynamics also gradually improved further. The annual rate of change of loans to non-financial corporations (adjusted for loan sales and securitisation) was -0.4% in February, after -0.9% in January, continuing its gradual recovery from a trough of -3.2% in February 2014.
•  The annual growth rate of loans to households (adjusted for loan sales and securitisation) increased further to 1.0% in February 2015, after 0.9% in January.  

UNQUOTE

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