2024-07-24 10:40:05
Following the expected script, the European Central Bank (ECB) yesterday kept its interest rates unchanged for the euro zoneand expects more reassuring figures on the inflation before undertaking the next cut, perhaps in September.
The deposit rateof reference, remains in 3.75%, following the cut made at the previous meeting in June.
“Although we are on the path to disinflation, pressures on domestic prices remain high,” he stressed. Christine Lagarde, president of the institution.
The refinancing rate and the marginal lending facility rate remain at 4 respectively.25% y 4.50%. The board of governors, chaired by Lagarde“will keep official interest rates at sufficiently restrictive levels for as long as necessary” to achieve the objective of “getting inflation back to its 2% medium-term target soon,” according to a statement issued on Thursday.
In June, inflation in the euro zone, made up of 20 countries in the UEwas from the 2.5% year-on-year, one-tenth less than in May.
The called inflation The underlying price index, which excludes food and energy from the equation, nevertheless remained at the same level as in May, at 2.9%. Prices for services, in which the wage component is strong, rose by 1.5%. 4.1% year-on-year in June and represent the largest contribution to inflation.
The governors did not give any indications on thefuture monetary policy decisionswhich will depend mainly on the evolution of inflation and refer to a possible new cut in September.
“The question of what we will do in September is open,” he said. Christine Lagarde.
“We do not commit ourselves in advance to a particular path,” he insisted.
In June, the BCE cut interest rates by 0.25 percentage points, the first drop since 2019.
The ECB, based in the German city of Frankfurt, had begun a cycle of unprecedented increases in mid-2022 to contain the uncontrolled rise in prices, particularly of energy and food.
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2024-07-24 10:40:05