Lagarde says ECB inflation forecast likely to be revised in June

BRUSSELS: The European Central Bank is set to lift its inflation outlook when policymakers meet next month, according to president Christine Lagarde.

A March projection that foresaw price gains of 2.6% this year “will probably be revised,” she told Italian talkshow Che Tempo Che Fa on Sunday, adding that the situation “has evolved” since then.

Her comments confirm what policymakers including governing council member Alexander Demarco have signalled in recent days. He told Bloomberg in an interview that the forecast – published just after the start of the Iran war – might have been too optimistic.

Lagarde declined to elaborate on whether such a revision is putting the ECB on course for an interest-rate increase on June 11.

“The current situation is so uncertain, we have to look at all the data available, assess how the economy is going to develop over the course of next quarters, how to determine whether action is needed, and what impact it will have in the medium term,” she said. “Our target is 2% medium term.”

Economists and investors predict a quarter-point increase, and many of Lagarde’s colleagues have suggested that such an outcome may be inevitable in the absence of a lasting peace deal between the US and Iran.

المصدر: Free Malaysia Today