ECB’s Lagarde Repeats Language of Two Weeks Ago, Calling Growth and Inflation Risks More Balanced

15 February 2023

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on Wednesday reiterated word for word the key messages of her post-Council meeting statement earlier this month.

In a speech at the plenary session of the European Parliament, Lagarde again called the risks to growth ‘more balanced’ than in December, with those to inflation also ‘more balanced, especially in the near term.’

The ECB intends to hike by 50bp next month and then ‘evaluate the subsequent path of our monetary policy’, she repeated. Restrictive borrowing costs would slow demand and ward off a disanchoring of inflation expectations, she said.

‘Our future policy rate decisions will continue to be data-dependent and follow a meeting-by-meeting approach’, she said. The ECB would do as necessary to fulfil its price stability mandate, she said.

Lagarde predicted that economic activity would continue to show weakness in the short run.