The European Central Bank and its President Mario Draghi are facing mounting pressure to take steps to stimulate growth in the euro area by creating liquidity through quantitative easing (QE). Whilst many argue this must happen sooner rather than later, the central bank insists that any changes must wait until it can assess the impact of new measures to encourage bank lending in the euro area.

Saxo Bank’s Head of Macro Strategy Mads Koefoed says he expects QE to arrive but not at the September meeting. Instead, he thinks it could be expected at the last meeting of this year, or even next year.

With eurozone inflation well under the ECB’s target of 2 percent, a QE programme would also help combat the growing concern of deflation in the eurozone. What’s more, QE would send the message that the ECB is prepared “to do whatever it takes” to defend its price stability target, according to Mads.

Worth noting, though, is that not everyone is a fan of QE. Notably, it faces strong opposition from Germany’s Bundesbank. But Mads says Mario Draghi has a habit of “getting his way”. So far Draghi has managed to implement his plans; rates in the euro area are at historic lows, the first round of LTROs is complete and he managed to push through the OMT programme.