ECB Executive Board member Yves Mersch said today that inflation will rise only gradually. He said in Sofia “overall, the underlying strength in the euro area economy continues to support our confidence that inflation will converge towards our aim over the medium term.” But he added that ” inflation convergence will likely proceed only gradually, and remains contingent on a highly accommodative monetary policy stance.”
Also, Mersch added that “the transition towards policy normalization will begin once the Governing Council assesses there has been sustained adjustment in the path of inflation.”
Separately, ECB Governing Council member Benoit Coeure said Eurozone growth isn’t just recovery but an expansion. He added that there is solid and broad based expansion in the region.
Comments from both are strikingly similar to President Mario Draghi’s yesterday.