Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel does not anticipate rapid success in the European Central Bank's (ECB) fight against escalating inflation.
"It will be some time before inflation gets back to where it belongs, which is two percent," Nagel told NTV in an interview broadcast on Monday evening.
"That means we're going to go through some tough months," he added.
The ECB has already acted strongly with four rate hikes over the course of the year.
"And the rate hikes will continue," he said.
"We've already come a long way, but there's still a lot to do."
At its most recent interest rate meeting on Thursday, the ECB raised the key rates by 0.50 percentage points after two jumbo rate hikes in September and October of 0.75 percentage points each.
After the interest rate decision, ECB boss Christine Lagarde signaled that the rate of hikes by half a percentage point would probably be maintained at the coming meetings.
In the press conference after the December meeting, she said: "We must continue the fight against inflation." The next interest rate meeting of the European central bank will take place on February 2nd.
As a result of the gas price brake, lower inflation rates will be seen in December, Nagel explained.
"We will then see slightly higher inflation rates again in January or February next year," he added.
In the course of 2023, inflation in Germany will still be around seven percent.
"And from '24 onwards, inflation rates will drop significantly."
Interest rate hikes would have a lag of 18 months to two years.
That doesn't happen overnight.
"That's why I have to ask for patience at this point," said Nagel.
The inflation rate in November was 10.1 percent in the entire euro area.
That's five times the ECB's medium-term target of 2 percent inflation, which it says is optimal for the economy.
