(ANSA) - MILAN, 05 JAN - The ECB should complete its bullish cycle "by the summer", when rates will reach their peak, and then keep the monetary 'belt' tightened for as long as "necessary" to bring inflation back towards the 2% target.
This is what was stated by the member of the executive committee of the ECB, Francois Villeroy de Galhau, in a speech to the representatives of the financial industry in Paris, according to reports from Bloomberg.
For the governor of the Bank of France - the first to offer an indication of the duration of the bullish phase - it is too early to say what the terminal rate will be, as its size will depend on the data that will arrive.
But after bringing rates on deposits back to 2%, a level deemed 'neutral' for the economy, the ECB will need a second phase of increases leading to "monetary stabilisation".
"At this point we will be ready to stay at this terminal rate for as long as necessary" and "the sprint in rate hikes in 2022 will become more of a long-distance race" in which "duration will matter at least as much as the level", Villeroy explained.
(HANDLE).