Inflation to return to near 2% target, Draghi says

(ANSA) - Sintra, May 27 - Inflation will return to just below the target of 2%, European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi said Tuesday.
    "We are aware of the risks of a prolonged period of low inflation," Draghi said. "I am confident, we will bring inflation close to, but below, 2% as per our mandate," he continued.
    The annual inflation rate in the eurozone was 0.7% in April, well below the ECB's medium-term target of about 2% inflation as countries in the common-currency area struggled to emerge from four years of economic crisis. The ECB chief also said separately that the new European parliament that emerged from recent elections would be "able to play a constructive role".
    "The prospect of a European parliament that is no longer able to function did not come to pass," he said of the election results in which Euroskeptic parties nonetheless made big gains across the 28-member European Union.