ECB prepares measures to boost eurozone economy

The European Central Bank (ECB) is outlining a number of measures designed to boost confidence and the economy across the eurozone.

Bank president Mario Draghi stated that the ECB was looking at methods that will help to revitalise the financial situation across the member states. His comments came after the ECB confirmed that it would be holding eurozone interest rates at 0.05 per cent. Mr Draghi added that there will be a review of the impact of the stimulus measures in early 2015.

The ECB president explained: "Should it become necessary to further address risks of too prolonged a period of low inflation, the Governing Council remains unanimous in its commitment to using additional unconventional instruments within its mandate. This would imply altering early next year the size, pace and composition of our measures."

Countries across the eurozone have been feeling the pinch in recent months with some of the most powerful nations enduring testing times. In November, Germany narrowly avoided falling into recession after its economy saw a 0.1 per cent growth in the third quarter of the year. Had it contracted, it would have hit a recession.

The figures released by Eurostat earlier in the year had shown that Germany's economy had shrunk by 0.1 per cent in Q2 but benefited from a slight growth in the following quarter to prevent a recession. The third quarter provided some respite for the eurozone with France posting strong-than-expected figures of 0.3 per cent growth, allowing the region to grow by a total of 0.2 per cent.

ECB estimates for the coming year had been revised down to bring it inline with an earlier European Commission forecast. The bank now expects the eurozone economy to be boosted by one per cent during 2015 while this grow to 1.5 per cent throughout 2016.

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