ECB's Visco says proving hard to raise inflation expectations

VERONA, Italy - 10 February 2018: The European Central Bank is finding it difficult to raise inflation expectations but it will patiently pursue its objective of bringing price increases back up towards 2 percent, Bank of Italy Governor Ignazio Visco said on Saturday.

“The risk of inflation has been averted but it is proving difficult to push up inflation expectations,” Visco, who sits on the ECB’s governing council, said in a speech in the northern Italian city of Verona.

“We will be patient in pursuing the inflation objective and perseverant on the monetary stance adopted,” he added.

Visco said exchange rate volatility posed one of the main risks to the inflation outlook, warning that “disorderly developments, especially if triggered by factors unrelated to the macroeconomic fundamentals, can make it harder to achieve price stability.”