The net purchase of assets, the main instrument of monetary support for the economy, “
should end in July
”, declared Luis de Guindos, vice-president of the ECB, in an interview with the Bloomberg agency.
This decision opens the way to an increase in key rates, maintained at historically low levels despite inflation.
The ECB has officially set the course for the third quarter of 2022 to stop buying new bonds on the markets.
July is therefore the first possible deadline.
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The Frankfurt institution is under pressure to start raising its rates, a movement already largely initiated by the other major central banks in the world, in an attempt to stem the soaring prices accentuated by the war in Ukraine.
In the eurozone, inflation hit a record 7.5% in March, well above the ECB's medium-term target of 2%.
The timing of the first rate hike will depend on the projections to be released at the next ECB meeting on June 9.
"
From the current perspective, July is possible and September, or later, is also possible
," said Luis de Guindos, widely seen as one of the governing council members most in favor of an accommodative monetary policy.
Control inflation
Central banks are using rate hikes as a tool to try to tame inflation, but pulling the trigger too soon risks hurting growth at a sensitive time for the European economy, weakened by geopolitical tensions.
In the sequence planned by the ECB, a rate hike (the first since 2011) is supposed to occur “
some time after
” the end of debt purchases, without further details.
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Within the Governing Council, supporters of a rapid tightening of monetary policy are increasingly vocal, fearing that the ECB will act too late and can do nothing more to stem the rise in prices.
Among these "
hawks
", the head of the German Central Bank Joachim Nagel again expressed concern on Wednesday about an uncontrolled rise in prices and pleaded for a weaning off as quickly as possible.
“
We should complete the asset purchases at the end of the second quarter.
At the beginning of the third quarter at the earliest, we could expect the first movements on the rates
”, he indicated during a trip to Washington.