ECB’s Centeno Urges Keeping Current Monetary Policy Stance Until Inflation Comes Down

12 October 2023

By Isabel Teles – MARRAKECH, Morocco (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Mário Centeno on Thursday said that the ECB would keep the current policy stance until it was clear that inflation was down.

In an interview with Bloomberg TV during the 2023 annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group, Centeno, who heads the Banco de Portugal, said the latest ECB decision was important because it ‘stated that with the current level of interest rates, we’ll be making a substantial contribution to the 2% objective.’

‘And I think we’ll get there by continuing this monetary policy stance, holding on for a while until we are totally sure that inflation is coming down’, he said.

Keeping an eye on inflation developments and remaining data dependent was necessary for the ECB, he said. ‘We need to make sure that we don’t overshoot in our policies', he said.

‘We need to continue to monitor the situation so that we can act - and by act I mean really adjusting the rates according to what is needed’, he said.