Mario Draghi gave his strongest signal yet that theEuropean Central Bank is likely to start large-scale government-bond purchases by saying he can’t rule out deflation in the euro area.

The ECB president seldom gives interviews and his comments to the German newspaper Handelsblatt reflect a drive to win over that nation. Policy makers there have led criticism of quantitative easing, saying it threatens financial stability, reduces the incentive for governments to restructure their economies, and is legally tricky.

“The risk cannot be entirely excluded, but it is limited,” Draghi said when asked if the region could enter a spiral of declining prices, falling wages and postponed spending. “We have to act against such risk.”