Economic developments in the eurozone have been "weaker than expected", European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi said Tuesday, stressing the need for continued monetary stimulus.
The warning comes at a time of mounting concern about slowing growth in the top EU economies of Germany, France and Italy, fuelled by uncertainty about Brexit and the knock-on effects of US-China trade tensions.
"Recent economic developments have been weaker than expected and uncertainties, notably related to global factors, remain prominent," Draghi told members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
"So there is no room for complacency. A significant amount of monetary policy stimulus is still needed," the outgoing ECB president said in his last hearing before the plenary.
The ECB last month ended its massive government and corporate bond-buying programme, designed to stoke growth and drive up inflation to the bank's target of just under 2.0 percent.
The easy money scheme saw the Frankfurt institution pump 2.6 trillion euros into the eurozone economy over a nearly four-year period.
Its end means the removal of a key pillar of crisis-era stimulus, with the ECB saying it was on track to meet its inflation goal.
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