ECB Former President Draghi Left Post With Call For Unity On Boosting Inflation

ECB Former President Draghi Left Post With Call For Unity on Boosting Inflation

The former head of the European Central Bank (ECB), Mario Draghi, concluded his last working meeting on monetary policy last October, by calling for unity with a goal of increasing inflation, a decision that was heavily criticized by some policymakers in favor of a "wait and see approach."

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st November, 2019) The former head of the European Central Bank (ECB), Mario Draghi, concluded his last working meeting on monetary policy last October, by calling for unity with a goal of increasing inflation, a decision that was heavily criticized by some policymakers in favor of a "wait and see approach."

According to the ECB's account of the October 23-24 governing council meeting published on Thursday, while there was a comprehensive agreement on the proposed monetary policy, some participants raised doubts concerning the side effects of the central bank's policies.

"A plea was made for patience to allow the measures taken in September to work through the economy, supporting a 'wait and see' posture at the current juncture," the ECB account statement read.

Draghi's final weeks serving as the ECB president, corresponded to the time of harsh criticism received from the chiefs of German, Austrian, Dutch and French central banks for his September's decision to relaunch a bond-buying program and to cut interest rates following a slowing growth and inflation.

However, after the October meeting, the governing council decided to keep the monetary policy unchanged, emphasizing its readiness to ease measures if necessary to reach its goal of having inflation slightly below 2 percent.

"Strong commitment by the governing council to providing the necessary policy stimulus was seen as important to ensure the sustained convergence of inflation to the governing council's aim," the account said.

The policymakers stressed that it would take time to achieve growth and inflation dynamics, but gave a positive prognosis.

Christine Lagarde officially took office as the President of the ECB for a non-renewable term of eight years on November 1.

She is expected to give her first policy speech on Friday, during a banking conference in Frankfurt.