By Hans Bentzien
FRANKFURT (Dow Jones) — The European Central Bank (ECB) may not hike interest rates for the last time in July, according to ECB Council member Joachim Nagel. “We may have to raise interest rates further after the summer break,” Nagel said at a Group of Thirty meeting, according to the published speech.
According to Nagel, once the cyclical peak is reached, the ECB must leave rates there until it is confident that inflation will fall safely and in time to the 2 percent target. “And third, we must support this interest rate policy by reducing our balance sheet. I very much welcome the decisions to increase the pace of this reduction,” said Nagel.
The Governing Council decided on Thursday to raise interest rates by 25 basis points. ECB President Christine Lagarde subsequently more or less announced another rate hike for July. The Governing Council is not satisfied with the inflation outlook, she said.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 16, 2023 03:31 ET (07:31 GMT)