The European Central Bank is ready to ease policy in March if the recent financial market turmoil or the long-term impact of low energy prices threatens to keep inflation persistently low, its president Mario Draghi said on Monday.

"First, we will examine the strength of the pass-through of low imported inflation to domestic wage and price formation and to inflation expectations," Draghi told the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee.

"Second, in the light of the recent financial turmoil, we will analyze the state of transmission of our monetary impulses by the financial system and in particular by banks," Draghi said. "If either of these two factors entail downward risks to price stability, we will not hesitate to act."