Following are comments by ECB President Mario Draghi at a press conference after the bank's policy meeting.
INFLATION OUTLOOK
"On the basis of information available and current oil futures prices, annual HICP inflation is expected to remain very low or still negative in the months ahead. Supported by the favorable impact of our monetary policy measures on aggregate demand, the impact of the lower euro exchange rate and the assumption of base effects and a somewhat higher oil price in the years ahead, inflation rates are expected to increase later in 2015 and to pick up further during 2016 and 2017."
ECONOMIC RISKS LESS ACUTE
"While remaining on the downside the risks surrounding the economic outlook for the euro area have become more balanced on account of the recent monetary policy decisions, the fall in oil prices and the lower euro exchange rate."
IMPACT OF LOW OIL PRICE, WEAK EURO
"Moreover, the lower level of the price of oil should continue to support households' real disposable income and corporate profitability. And therefore private consumption and investment.
"Furthermore demand for euro area exports should benefit from improvements in price competitiveness; however, the euro area recovery is likely to continue to be dampened by the necessary balance sheet adjustments in a number of sectors and the sluggish pace of implementation of structural reforms."
ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
"The latest economic indicators including survey data up to March suggest that the euro area economy has gained further momentum since the end of 2014. Looking ahead, we expect the economic recovery to broaden and strengthen gradually."
RETURN TO INFLATION TARGET
"Looking ahead our focus will be on the full implementation of our monetary policy measures. Through these measures we will contribute to further improvement in the economic outlook, a reduction in economic slack and a recovery in money and credit growth. Together such developments will lead to a sustained return of inflation towards a level below but close to 2 percent over the medium term and will underpin the firm anchoring of medium- to long-term inflation expectations."
QE IS WORKING
"The implementation of our asset purchase program is proceeding smoothly with volumes in line with the announced figure of EUR60 billion of securities per month.
"In addition, there is clear evidence that monetary policy measures we have put in place are effective. Financial market conditions and the cost of external finance for the private sector have eased considerably over the past months and borrowing conditions for firms and households have improved notably with a pickup in the demand for credit."
FULL IMPLEMENTATION OF QE
"Looking ahead, our focus will be on the full implementation of our monetary policy measures. Through these measures we will contribute to a further improvement in the economic outlook, a reduction in economic slack and a recovery in money and credit growth."
(EMEA MPG Desk +44 207 542 4111)
