Draghi Starts Policy-Action Countdown as ECB Awaits Data

Mario Draghi has put investors on a month’s notice for further economic stimulus after outlining the ingredients necessary for action.

The European Central Bank president cited next week’s snapshot of euro-area economic growth and the need to better assess the inflation outlook as critical for whether policy makers take “decisive” steps when they reconvene to set monetary policy in March. He spoke to reporters yesterday after the Frankfurt-based central bank left its benchmark interest rate at a record-low 0.25 percent.