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Growth in the 19-member currency bloc is broadening across
countries, sectors and labor markets, while inflation could rise
close to target by 2019, Praet told a conference in a relatively
optimistic overview.
The ECB left its super-easy policy stance firmly in place last
week, even keeping the door open to more stimulus, arguing that
growth risks were still tilted to the downside and underlying
inflation had yet to show a convincing upward trend.
Investors now expect the ECB in June to cut its reference to the
"downside" risks to the economy and review whether to maintain a
bias for more policy easing, given the robust recovery and the
inflation rebound.
While Praet said its guidance could indeed change, he stressed
the sequence of future steps or their dependence on a sustained
rise in inflation were not up for discussion.
"These fundamental features of our forward guidance have a clear
logic," Praet said. "All other features of our forward guidance
are of a parametric nature and can be recalibrated depending on
incoming data."
The ECB has guided for its bond buys to run at least until the
end of this year and interest rates to remain at their current
or lower levels well beyond.
Praet added that policymakers will review the distribution of
risks surrounding the economic outlook in June, when the bank
also releases fresh economic forecasts.
The ECB also sees inflation oscillating around 1.5 percent this
year before a "gentle" rise in the coming years, coming close to
the ECB's target of just under 2 percent by 2019, Praet said.
(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski; Writing by Balazs Koranyi;
Editing by Francesco Canepa)
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