(ANSA) - ROME, 01 SEPT - The ECB "should not overlook the risks of a rapidly growing inflation" even if "the accommodative monetary policy remains appropriate" at this stage.
Bundesbank president Jens Weidmann said in a speech following the data on the jump in prices in Europe and Germany and a week before the board meeting of the central institution, on 9 September.
"We must monitor the risks" on prices, he added. "In my opinion, upside risks are predominant." The ECB's program of purchases of public and private securities to counter the pandemic crisis (Pepp) "must be reduced gradually, step by step and not suddenly" once the emergency is over but given the uncertainty we cannot "determine it well in advance ". The banker then added that "the first letter 'P' of the Pepp program stands for 'pandemic'" and its flexibility "should be reserved for an extraordinary situation" such as the health crisis. (HANDLE).