The European Central Bank does not plan to change the course of its monetary policy after increasing interest rates for the seventh time in a row at its May meeting. Interest rates will be increased at least in the next two meetings, Wrote Kommersant newspaper.
At a meeting in May, the ECB raised rates again by 0.25 percentage points (pp): up to 3.75% on loans, up to 3.25% on deposits, up to 4% on margin loans.
As noted in the article, the regulator is prepared to continue raising rates because of the risks of accelerating price growth. According to market participants’ expectations, this will happen at at least two more meetings of the ECB, which is added to the material. According to the ECB, inflation will be “too high for too long.”
The ECB’s inflation target is 2%, and rate decisions should ensure this target is met. For the sake of it, the ECB is ready to keep interest rates high “for as long as it takes.”
ECB chief Christine Lagarde also drew attention to the risks of accelerating price growth. According to him, the regulator still has to go some way in tackling high price hikes.
Euro Zone inflation, which was 6.9% in March, was 7% in April on an annual basis.