Euro drops to $1.15 after ECB launches QE program

The euro slipped against the U.S. dollar on Thursday after the European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi announced the bank will embark on a quantitative easing program.

ECB President Mario Draghi said the program includes buying government and institutions bonds with purchases of €60 billion per month, starting in March and continuing until September 2016.

The bank’s results came more than previously forecasted, where expectations were €50 billion per month, starting in March and continuing until late 2016, which has a total value of €1.50 trillion.

The total value approved by the ECB is €1.80 trillion and starts at the expected month but with different completion time.

Euro broke 1.15 and traded around it following Draghi’s announcement.

ECB President Mario Draghi stressed that the quantitative easing program will continue until inflation rates meet with the bank’s target at 2% over the medium term.

Hence, the ECB renewed its commitment to support the euro zone having already entered deflation, where the bank intends to push inflation to 2%.

ECB’s Draghi said that the bank will continue monitoring the risks associated with future price developments over the medium term, and also stressed out the negative influence of future prospects. However, he said that risks should diminish after the monetary policy adopted by the bank today and the ongoing decline of oil prices in recent weeks.

The euro is expected to continue trading around 1.15, and drop below this level to test it.

EUR/USD pair dropped by 0.88% around 1.1499 at 14:43 GMT, compared with the entry levels 1.1606.