Euro-zone inflation remains well anchored and there are currently no plans for another round of the European Central Bank's latest refinancing operation, a member of the ECB's governing council said Thursday.
"I don't expect we'll change the opinion that inflation is well anchored in the medium term. In the next three years (we don't see) threats to inflation," Jozef Makuch said at a conference.
Makuch, who is also governor of the Slovak central bank, said that the ECB's half-trillion euro three-year refinancing operation should support Europe's non-financial sector and boost growth rather than fund sovereign debt.
Next week the ECB will likely discuss an exit strategy from the bank's use of non-standard measures, but Makuch added that this doesn't mean it will end the use of such steps.
He said demand from enterprises is present and now it is up to commercial banks to lend.
Makuch also said that despite this fresh use of non-standard measures, the ECB at its meeting next week will focus on debating an exit from such steps rather than discuss another package.
"We must be prepared to exit such measures, but it doesn't mean we'll exit next month or next year," he said.
Looking at the long-term outlook for the currency bloc, Makuch said the most preferable scenario with a very high probability is that the euro zone will survive the crisis, but its further enlargement will be postponed for some time as other candidate countries won't fulfill the Maastricht Criteria.
Additionally, the risk of contagion from the debt crisis to other countries is now low, whereas two years ago it was very high, Makuch said.
The ECB's governing council will meet March 8 to discuss interest rates and monetary policy in general.
A total of 800 banks with operations in the euro zone tapped the ECB Wednesday for a record amount of the central bank's refinancing loan allotted against eligible collateral.
The ECB allotted Wednesday EUR529.53 billion in its longest-ever three-year refinancing operation, which the ECB had on offer for the second time after a first offer of the three-year loans in December last year.
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