The ECB has warned that the strength of the European economy will be tested during 2016 as the global economic forecast remains gloomy.

"We face continued disinflationary forces. And we face questions about the direction of Europe and its resilience to new shocks," ECB president Mario Draghi warns in the bank's new annual report.

He prefaced the remarks by saying that "2016 will be a no less challenging year for the ECB. We face uncertainty about the outlook for the global economy."

Annual Report 2015 https://t.co/bKMF9tshQg (ePub)

— ECB (@ecb) April 7, 2016

While the central bank has slashed interest rates and launched a massive quantitative easing programme, the ECB has struggled to stimulate economic growth in the eurozone.

The president says that the bank will not "surrender" to deflationary forces, he added that it hopes to boost the eurozone's GDP by 1.5% between 2015 and 2018 through the quantitative easing programme. 

The ECB has constantly reiterated its commitment to pushing the bloc towards its 2% inflation target.

Vice President Vitor Constancio addressed the European Parliament today - he said that the ECB will do "whatever is needed" to meet its inflation targets.

"If further adverse shocks were to materialise, our measures could be recalibrated once more, commensurate with the strength of the headwind, also taking into account possible side-effects," he told the parliament.