ECB chief announces interest rate hike for summer

Created: 04/27/2022, 17:18

Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, in Hamburg City Hall.

© Marcus Brandt/dpa

The President of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, has announced that interest rates in the euro area will be raised in the summer.

"The task of the European Central Bank is price stability," said Lagarde on Wednesday after a meeting with Mayor Peter Tschentscher in Hamburg City Hall.

In order to guarantee this, the ECB decided, among other things, to let the multi-billion dollar bond purchases expire more quickly - "with a high degree of probability early in the third quarter, probably in July," she said.

Hamburg - That is the time to "look at the interest rates and an increase in these rates".

The decision will be made by the Governing Council based on the data that should be available by the next Council meeting in June.

"It is our duty and our mandate to ensure that price stability is indeed maintained," assured Lagarde.

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In view of the raw material and energy prices exploding as a result of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine and the costs of the sanctions for the economy, the Hamburg Institute for International Economics (HWWI) warned of a deep recession last week.

HWWI Director Michael Berlemann appealed to the ECB to reconsider "its ultra-loose monetary policy" in order to prevent a threatening wage-price spiral.

dpa