The European Central Bank on Thursday raised its 2016 growth forecast slightly but lowered its projections for 2017 and 2018, with bank chief Mario Draghi saying "uncertainties" caused by the Brexit vote would weigh on trade.

The ECB now expects gross domestic product to grow by 1.7 percent in 2016, up from a previous projection of 1.6 percent, Draghi said.

The euro economy should expand by 1.6 percent in each of the following two years, he added, down from the earlier 1.7 percent forecasts for 2017 and 2018.

Inflation expectations remain broadly unchanged, at 0.2 percent for 2016, 1.2 percent for 2017 and 1.6 percent for 2018, Draghi said.