“The risks to economic growth remain tilted to the downside,” the European Central Bank’s (ECB) Economic Bulletin showed on Thursday.

Additional takeaways

The Governing Council’s future decisions will ensure that the key ECB interest rates will stay sufficiently restrictive for as long as necessary.

 In any event, the Governing Council will continue to follow a data-dependent and meeting-by-meeting approach to determining the appropriate level and duration of restriction, and it is not pre-committing to a particular rate path.

Inflation is expected to fluctuate around current levels in the coming months and to then decline to the 2% target next year.

Growth could be lower if the effects of monetary policy turn out stronger than expected.