ECB confident on inflation outlook despite risks - Villeroy

PARIS (Reuters) - The European Central Bank is confident inflation is on the right track although the spectre of protectionism and other risks are adding to broader economic uncertainty, ECB policymaker Francois Villeroy de Galhau said on Thursday.

Speaking at a conference at the French central bank which he also heads, Villeroy said "the risk of an escalating and global trade war is no longer unthinkable" following tit-for-tat tariff measures announced by the United States and China.

"Whilst we might be a bit less certain precisely where we are in the cycle, we are more confident that we are heading in the right direction on inflation," Villeroy said.

(Reporting by Leigh Thomas; editing by Richard Lough)