ECB’s de Guindos: Situation Can Improve in Very Rapid, Very Intense Way

6 May 2021

By David Barwick – Frankfurt (Econostream) – European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos on Thursday voiced renewed optimism about Europe’s economic recovery.

In an online forum organised by EY, de Guindos said, ‘What we are seeing is the situation can improve in a very rapid and very intense way.’

De Guindos noted that vaccination campaigns were progressing ‘in all countries’ and said that getting 70% of the population vaccinated was ‘perfectly attainable’.

He minimised the current, ‘transient’ increase in inflation as having to do ‘in large part with base effects, with temporary effects, with technical effects’.

Inflation over the medium term would nonetheless only reach ‘1.4%, 1.5%’, given ‘very low’ capacity utilisation and the absence of any second-round effects on wages, he said.