As European Central Bank (ECB) policy makers gather today fortheir first meeting of 2015, the backdrop is a 0.2 percent annualdrop in consumer prices, the first in more than five years. ForPresident Mario Draghi, who wants to open the money tap, the data may push the central bank closerto the unprecedented step of buying government bonds to revivegrowth and inflation.

ECB officials are working on a plan to purchase sovereign debtas they strive to prevent a deflationary spiral of falling pricesand households postponing spending, a risk Draghi has said can't be“entirely excluded.” In addition to moribund growth, the regionrisks being further unsettled by elections in at least threecountries this year and mounting concern about the future of the single currency.

“Hello, deflation,” said Holger Schmieding, chief economist atBerenberg Bank in London. “Even if we do not share the widespreadconcerns about dangerous deflationary dynamics,” the ECB is “milesaway” from its goal of inflation near 2 percent, he said.