Mario Draghi Calls for Structural Reforms to Stabilize EU Economy

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi called on euro zone governments to implement structural reforms on Thursday, warning that the economy should stabilize later in 2013 but that downside risks to growth remained.

The bank left its main refinancing rate unchanged at a record low of 0.75 percent on Thursday, as expected.

“Our monetary policy stance will remain accommodative,” Draghi told reporters at a press conference shortly after the decision. “The continued implementations of structural reforms should work their way through the economy,” he said.

“The Governing Council continues to see downside risks surrounding the economic outlook for the euro area,” he said. He added that a gradual (economic) recovery should commence in the second part of 2013

The euro hit a new session high above 1.3050 against the dollar as Draghi spoke.

via CNBC

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Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency
trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza