ECB's Lagarde: We continue to see risks to the economy as balanced in the medium-term

In the introductory remarks section of her testimony before the EU Parliament on Monday, ECB President Christine Lagarde said that we continue to see the risks to the economic outlook as broadly balanced over the medium-term. 

Additional Remarks:

"The current pandemic wave and associated restrictions are likely to continue to have a negative impact on growth at the start of this year."

"Our commitment to delivering on our inflation mandate remains absolutely unwavering."

"The economic impact of the current pandemic wave appears to be less damaging to activity than previous ones."

"Bottlenecks will still persist for some time, but there are signs that they may be starting to ease."

"Inflation is likely to remain high in the near term."

"We need more than ever to maintain flexibility and optionality in the conduct of monetary policy."

"The likelihood is that the current price pressures will subside before becoming entrenched, enabling us to deliver on our 2% target over the medium term."

"In the past surges in energy prices weakened the spending power of households, and reduced inflation over the medium term."

Market Reaction

No market reaction to Lagarde's remarks yet, which are very much in fitting with the ECB's usual script, but traders will be keeping an eye out for any juicier nuggets of information that might come during the Q&A.