FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — European Central Bank head Mario Draghi has warned that the "downside risks" facing Europe's economy have increased due to the recent turmoil in emerging markets.
Draghi's remark Monday to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, comes as the bank is preparing to consider adding to its stimulus efforts at its next meeting on March 10.
He repeated his earlier stance that the bank has found risks high enough "to review and possibly reconsider" the level of its stimulus efforts.
He said risks in emerging markets "have increased again amid heightened uncertainty" since Dec. 3, when the bank decided to cut a key interest rate and extend its bond-purchase stimulus program by six months.
Financial markets have been volatile this year over concerns about the slowdown in China, a key trading partner for Europe and one of the engines of the global economy. Additionally, low oil prices are hurting growth prospects in producing countries.
Others face investor flight as interest rates in the United States were raised in December for the first time in nearly ten years. The prospect of further rate hikes in the U.S. has attracted cash there.
Draghi said some of these economies "remain vulnerable to an abrupt shift in risk sentiment" that could lead to tighter credit conditions and deal a further setback to global growth.
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