Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's does not expect the European Central Bank (ECB) to move away from monetary policy to support the economy before 2018, despite signs of a return to inflationary pressures.
A report by the S&P chief economist for Europe and a colleague notes that inflation in the eurozone is likely to recover in 2017, but structural inflation - which does not include the prices of the most volatile products, such as oil - is expected to remain subdued. and give the ECB the opportunity to maintain its support.
"The ECB could choose to see rising energy prices as temporary," the report said. ».
At its last Governing Council meeting, the ECB reduced its bond-buying program to € 60 billion a month from April to € 80 billion a month today, but extended it until the end of 2017. It also maintained its key interest rate. refinancing to zero and the deposit acceptance rate at -0,4%. Then - and after the rise in inflation in December - some economists and policymakers, mainly in Germany, called on the ECB to raise interest rates.