European Central Bank President Mario Draghi is widely expected to announced a fresh round of stimulus measures on Thursday to rev up the euro area economy, a final push before the expiry of his term at the end of October.
However, the group of hawkish policymakers opposed to a restart of the quantitative easing, or QE, has grown, casting doubts on the expectations for a comprehensive stimulus package.
Draghi is set to hand over the reins to the outgoing International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde on October 31. The former French finance minister is set to inherit a host of unconventional policy measures the effectiveness of which are increasingly being doubted now.
In the July policy meeting, the ECB had altered its forward guidance to clearly signal that it is planning an interest rate cut in the near term and a comprehensive stimulus package that could include a tiering system and a fresh round of asset purchases.
The Governing Council is set to announce the policy decision at 7.45 am ET on September 12, Thursday. Draghi will hold his customary press conference at 8.30 am ET.
Economists widely expect the bank to cut the deposit facility rate by 10 basis points to -0.50 percent.
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