Draghi’s First Good News in a Year Has $267 Billion Cost

On Thursday, the European Central Bank president should be able to deliver his first snippet of good news for a year on his mandate. Most economists in Bloomberg’s monthly survey predict the central bank’s forecasts for inflation and growth will be left unchanged or increased. Yet respondents see the relief as short-lived, with two thirds predicting more easing will eventually be needed.

The poll results underscore how the Governing Council’s meeting in Vienna, one of the occasional sessions held outside the ECB’s Frankfurt headquarters, is likely to mark a pause for officials after a fresh round of stimulus in March that included a bump of 240 billion euros ($267 billion) to their bond-buying program. While economists are skeptical the package will be enough to return inflation to the target of just under 2 percent, Vice President Vitor Constancio is more optimistic. He said last week that he believes consumer-price growth will be near that goal in two years time.