European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi has said risks to the eurozone economy have increased.   Earlier, official figures confirmed that the eurozone recorded zero growth in the first three months of the year.   The ECB also released its latest quarterly economic forecasts of growth and inflation.

• Its growth forecast for 2012 was unchanged at a range of between -0.5{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e} and 0.3{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e}.

• The inflation forecast was narrowed from between 2.1{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e} and 2.7{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e} to between 2.3{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e} and 2.5{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e}.

The euro fell against the dollar during Mr Draghi’s news conference, giving up its earlier gains, on the news that the decision to keep rates on hold had not been unanimous.

European stock markets also fell back, although they were still showing gains on the day.

Credit: BBC/Reuters