Comments from Draghi in his opening statement:
- Incoming data have continued to be weaker than expected
- Slowdown is due to fall in external demand as well as some country-specific reasons
- Growth is likely to be weaker in the short term
- Risks around the eurozone outlook have moved to the downside
- Governing Council stands ready to adjust all of its instruments
- Underlying inflation is expected to increase over the medium term, supported by our monetary policy measures, the ongoing economic expansion and rising wage growth
- Structural reforms need to be stepped up
Here's the key line:
"The risks surrounding the euro area growth outlook have moved to the downside on account of the persistence of uncertainties related to geopolitical factors and the threat of protectionism, vulnerabilities in emerging markets and financial market volatility."
This is the first time he's shifted the balance of risks to the downside in a meeting that doesn't include new forecasts.
"The Governing Council stands ready to adjust all of its instruments, as appropriate, to ensure that inflation continues to move towards our inflation objective in a sustained manner," he said.
There were two moves in the euro. It initially fell to 1.1320 then rebounded back to 1.1345. This move was partly due to trade talk from Wilbur Ross. The second move down to 1.1310 came on the comment about risks moving to the downside.
