2024-04-13 08:04:24
At the meeting of the ECB Council in Frankfurt, it was decided to maintain the main refinancing operations rate at 4.5%, the overnight deposit rate at 4% and the overnight lending rate at 4.75%.
In order to fight against inflation, interest rates had previously been increased by the ECB Council for ten meetings in a row.
In the statement released after the meeting, the council states that “inflation has continued to fall – it was determined by lower inflation of food prices and commodity prices”.
“Most measures of core inflation are declining, the pace of wage growth is gradually slowing and corporate profits are absorbing some of the increase in labor costs,” the council says.
“Financing conditions remain tight, and previous interest rate hikes continue to dampen demand, which helps reduce inflation. But domestic price pressures are strong, keeping service price inflation high,” the statement said.
The Council expresses its determination “to ensure a timely return of inflation to its 2% medium-term target”.
It emphasizes that “the level of the key interest rates of the ECB significantly contributes to the current process of decreasing inflation”.
“The Council’s future decisions will ensure that monetary policy rates remain sufficiently restrictive for as long as necessary,” the Council promises.
“If the Council’s updated assessment of the inflation outlook, the dynamics of core inflation and the power of monetary policy transmission further increases the confidence that inflation is steadily moving toward its set goal, it would be appropriate to reduce the current level of monetary policy stringency. In any case, when determining the extent and duration of restrictions, the Council also going forward, it will make data-driven decisions at each meeting, and it does not commit in advance to move interest rates in a specific direction,” the statement said.
added from paragraph 4
2024-04-13 08:04:24