ECB Vice President Luis de Guindos said today that “the underlying fundamentals for a continued though moderate expansion of the euro area economy remain in place, as foreseen in the December 2019 Eurosystem staff projections.”

However, “risks surrounding the euro area remain tilted to the downside.. In particular, the outbreak of the coronavirus and its potential effect on global growth add a new layer of uncertainty.”

ECB Governing Council member Francois Villeroy de Galhau said he proposed to “decarbonizing the ECB’s balance sheet with a pragmatic, progressive and targeted approach to all corporate assets whether they be held on the central bank’s balance sheet as purchases or taken as collateral.”

Villeroy noted that the stagflationary nature of climate change was the reason to take it into account. It could challenge the price stability mandate by pushing up prices while weighing on the economy.

Though, he also noted, “the greening of central bank action is not about additional monetary policy easing but recalibrating our tools”.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, ECB Governing Council member Mario Centeno highlighted the positive direction of medium-term inflation, noting that its “trajectory is very positive right now.” He further told CNBC that “we don’t need to do more than is needed”

On the topic of rate cuts, Centeno noted “once inflation starts going down sustainably, with an economy … that is not growing, where the challenges are huge, we need to be open to get all data on board and decide upon that.”

Meanwhile, another ECB Governing Council member, Francois Villeroy de Galhau, speaking at a panel in Davos, cautioned against premature declarations of victory over inflation. However, he admitted that “our next move will be a cut, probably this year” evenh though he refrained from commenting on the timing.