"Economic activity in the euro area is expected to remain weak," Draghi told his regular monthly news conference after the ECB held its main interest rate at 0.75 percent.

He noted that recent economic surveys did not signal any improvement heading to the end of the year.

Draghi reiterated the ECB's view that inflation, which eased to an estimated 2.5 percent in October, would fall below 2 percent next year. The central bank targets inflation of close to but below 2 percent.