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The European Central Bank’s fight to tame inflation isn’t over and more action is still needed, according to President Christine Lagarde.
“I think we covered a large chunk of the journey toward taming inflation and bringing it back to our target,” Lagarde said in an interview on the Buitenhof TV show aired Sunday. “We are not done yet, we are not pausing based on the information I have today,” she said, adding that the “inflation outlook is too high and for too long.”
“So many things can go wrong that we cannot give what we call forward guidance,” she said. “I don’t have a predetermined number in my mind.”
Several ECB officials have warned that interest-rate increases may need to persist beyond the summer to bring inflation to heel. After 375 basis points of hikes, economists predict two more quarter-point moves — through July — but the risk that the most aggressive monetary tightening of the euro era will extend for longer is rising.
Speaking ahead of the ECB’s 25th anniversary, Lagarde voiced confidence that the currency would prevail for “many, many years to come.”
“We have a strong cause for celebration at the ECB because 25 years ago we had the objective of providing price stability, delivering better European sovereignty, and showing more solidarity,” she said. “I think on those three accounts, we have delivered.”
