Draghi expresses "sadness" over Brexit

European Central Bank president Mario Draghi has expressed “sadness” over Britain’s decision to leave the European Union.

In his first remarks following the results of the referendum on Friday, Draghi spoke briefly on Brexit but declined to comment in detail.

“I try to find the word which describes our feelings. Probably the best word would be sadness,” he said at the opening of the ECB’s annual forum on Monday in Sintra, Portugal.

He spoke again in Sintra on Tuesday but left out any mention of the EU referendum, instead focusing on European policy to bring inflation back to the ECB’s target of just below 2%.

Draghi said global inflation has taken a hit amid a slump in energy and commodities prices.

“This has fed not just into lower headline inflation, but also into lower underlying inflation through its effect on costs and imported prices.” The eurozone consumer price index fell 0.1% in May.

He said all central banks have faced a common challenge of low inflation as there are “global factors at play”.

Draghi believes there is a need for policy alignment between the ECB and governments to tackle prolonged low inflation and a stagnant recovery.

“What I mean by alignment is a shared diagnosis of the root causes of the challenges that affect us all; and a shared commitment to found our domestic policies on that diagnosis.”