NEW YORK – The dollar was mixed Friday after the European Central Bank's president said inflation would edge back to around 2 percent within a year-and-a-half, and economic growth was likely to pick up.

The 15-nation euro bought $1.5843 in late New York trading, up slightly from the $1.5820 late Thursday.

The euro edged upward after Citigroup reported a better-than-expected loss, the third major U.S. bank to do so after JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. did the same this week.

But the dollar gained against the British pound, which dropped to $1.9980 from $1.9992, and rose to 106.89 Japanese yen from 106.69 yen late Thursday.

ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet expects the euro zone's economy to return to moderate growth late this year after a midyear “trough” and sees inflation dropping back to the ECB's target level of about 2 percent in about 18 months.

Trichet's comments came in a joint interview with Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the Irish Times, France's Le Figaro and Portugal's Jornal de Negocios, and was posted Friday on the ECB's Web site.

He also underscored the ECB's commitment to its main aim of fighting inflation and his defense of the bank raising its main interest rate earlier this month to 4.25 percent from 4 percent. European Union statistics show that inflation in the euro zone hit 4 percent in June – the highest level in 16 years and twice the bank's target of around 2 percent.

Meanwhile, Germany's Federal Statistical Office reported Friday that annual producer prices – an important gauge of inflation before it reaches consumers – was 6.7 percent in June, from 6 percent in May – rising at their fastest pace in 26 years.

Higher inflation can lead central banks to leave interest rates higher, which can attract investors to a currency seeking more return on capital.

In other trading, the dollar slipped to 1.0223 Swiss francs from 1.0231 francs, and weakened to 1.0064 Canadian dollars from 1.0068 Canadian dollars.