The European Central Bank current interest-rate position is appropriate and the institution is fully committed to its 2% inflation target, President Christine Lagarde told ARD.
“Our determination, our commitment, our duty is to keep price stability — and price stability is around 2% inflation,” she told the public broadcaster on Friday. “We have delivered, inflation is measured at 2%, and we will continue doing so.”
“We are committed to that 2% target and we’ll do whatever it takes — to borrow a very famous formula — to make sure that it stays at that level,” she said. “We have a lot of uncertainty, a lot of unpredictability around us at the moment, but on the price front, we will be certain and stable.”
Asked about the rate path, Lagarde reiterated recent comments that “we are in a good position now.”
The ECB has lower borrowing costs eight times since June 2024, but is now expected to hold at its next monetary-policy meeting later this month. With inflation now on target, economists predict one more cut this year.
Turning to the prospect of the euro replacing the dollar as the world’s top reserve currency, Lagarde highlighted the “incredible potential here at home in Europe.”
She called on policymakers to step up their efforts to ramp up the economy.
“The value of a currency euro, for instance, is going to depend a lot on the strength of our economy, and we have to make our economy stronger,” she said.
Sourse: Bloomberg