ECB’s Kažimír: Expect Inflation to Stay High for Longer Than We Expected

4 February 2022

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Inflation will probably remain high for longer than had been anticipated, and risks are to the upside, European Central Bank Governing Council member Peter Kažimír said Friday.

In a statement issued on the website of the National Bank of Slovakia, which he heads, Kažimír said, ‘I expect inflation in the euro area to remain at higher levels for longer than we expected’ and ‘Risks related to future inflation are clearly upwards today’.

‘The fact that we have not tightened despite the surprises of the December and January inflation figures does not mean that we will delay the reaction’, he said. ‘We will be wiser in March, we will have more data, we will know more about how the economy, the labour market is developing and how rising prices are turning into wages. We will also know whether geopolitical risks will ease or not.’

Global commodity prices were of critical importance, he said. Expectations point to tamer developments for energy prices during 2022 and beyond, he said, while supply constraints should gradually ease.

‘Even if commodity prices do not fall, stabilising their level by definition means that inflationary pressures from this source will disappear’, he said.

The ECB wants to achieve inflation of 2% and is ‘doing everything we need to gradually be where we want to be and fulfil our mandate of price stability’, he said.