JABAR EKSPRES –The President of the European Central Bank (ECB) signaled further interest rate hikes in a speech on Monday (6/6/2023) that reaffirmed the ECB’s commitment to fighting persistently high inflation.
At the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee hearing, Christine Lagarde underlined and ensuring price stability is the ECB’s responsibility.
Inflation in the eurozone eased noticeably in May, but at 6.1 percent it is still well above the ECB’s target of 2.0 percent for stability. “Price pressures remain high,” Lagarde stressed, quoted by Xinhua.
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The ECB will ensure that policy rates will be brought to levels tight enough to achieve a timely return of inflation to its medium-term target of 2.0 percent, she said.
According to several central bank chiefs, a further hike by a quarter percentage point is likely to take place on June 15.
German Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel said he expects further rate hikes, adding that it is not certain a peak in interest rates will be reached as early as this summer.
Meanwhile, Irish central bank chief Gabriel Makhlouf also anticipated further tightening in June and July, given ongoing price pressures in the euro area. However, “beyond that, I think the picture is less clear,” he said recently.
The ECB has raised its key interest rate seven times in a row by a total of 3.75 percentage points.
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