ECB policy reassessment not warranted by inflation: Praet

[March 15, 2017]  FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The euro zone economy is picking up strength but growth has yet to translate into a sustained recovery of inflation so the European Central Bank should not yet reassess its policy stance, ECB chief economist Peter Praet said on Wednesday.

European Central Bank executive board member Peter Praet attends the 2016 Institute of International Finance (IIF) Spring Membership meeting in Madrid, Spain, May 25, 2016. REUTERS/Susana Vera

"The recovery has yet to translate into a durable and self-sustained pick-up in inflation," Praet told a conference in Frankfurt. "Looking through recent volatility, the inflation outlook does not at this stage warrant a reassessment of the current monetary policy stance."

"We still need to build sufficient confidence that inflation will indeed converge to this aim over a medium-term horizon and will remain there even in less supportive monetary policy conditions," Praet added.

(Reporting by Francesco Canepa; Editing by Balazs Koranyi)

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