Draghi Says There’s No Inflation Risk in Any Euro Country

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said there are no inflation risks in the 17-nation euro area and the ECB will continue to provide liquidity to solvent banks.

“Inflation expectations remain well anchored and there is no inflation risk in any euro-area country,” Draghi said in a speech in Frankfurt today. “And should risks to price stability emerge, the Eurosystem has sufficient tools at its disposal to absorb excess liquidity.”

The ECB has lent banks more than 1 trillion euros ($1.26 trillion) for three years at its benchmark rate, which it held at a record low of 1 percent last week. With the sovereign debt crisis damping growth and price pressures, Draghi said on June 6 that “a few” ECB policy makers had called for a rate cut.

He said today that the ECB’s commitment to price stability “will continue to guide our policy in the time to come.”

Draghi also said a blueprint for the future of Europe’s monetary union that he is working on with European Union President Herman Van Rompuy, Luxembourg’s Jean-Claude Juncker and European Commission President Jose Barroso will be published “very soon.”

“Markets and people need to be reassured that we are still travelling together,” Draghi said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Gabi Thesing in London at gthesing@bloomberg.net; Jana Randow in Frankfurt at jrandow@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Matthew Brockett at mbrockett1@bloomberg.net

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European Central Bank President Mario Draghi

Hannelore Foerster/Bloomberg

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said today that the ECB’s commitment to price stability “will continue to guide our policy in the time to come.”

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said today that the ECB’s commitment to price stability “will continue to guide our policy in the time to come.” Photographer: Hannelore Foerster/Bloomberg