UK: ECB to stand pat on policy as it looks through rise in inflation
The ECB is expected to stand pat on policy at Thursday's meeting despite a rise in inflation
Headline inflation in the euro area rose to 2.0% in February fueled by higher energy prices
The ECB's medium-term inflation target is close to but below 2%
But the core CPI, which factors out more volatile energy and fresh food prices, was unchanged at 0.9%
Euro-zone GDP 2016 annual growth was 1.7%. The OECD Tuesday forecast this to fall to 1.6% in 2017
The ECB's key lending rate currently stands at 0.0% and the deposit rate at minus -0.4%
Asset purchases are set to fall to €60 bn in April from €80 bn previously
The QE program has been extended until the end of this year
ECB chief Mario Draghi could face further questioning on the tapering of the QE program
But the issue of tapering is not expected to be on the table until later in the year
The euro was off 0.06% at $1.0560 at 07:15 ET
