FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Global growth is expected to slow in the near term and the risk of an expanding trade conflict among major power could weigh on sentiment further, the European Central Bank said in regular economic bulletin on Thursday.
"In the near term, global economic momentum is expected to moderate," the ECB said in a bulletin, which is largely consistent with the ECB's policy statement following its Sept. 13 interest rate meeting.
"Further tariff increases and uncertainties about future trading relations are likely to weigh on global economic momentum going forward," it added.
With the euro zone economy humming along, the ECB confirmed plans at the meeting to halve bond purchases from October before ending them at the close of the year.
The bank also said it would keep rates at record lows through next summer and was comfortable with market expectations for a small rate increase sometime in the fourth quarter of 2019.
(Reporting by Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Toby Chopra)
