ECB’s Šimkus: ‘There Is and There Was No Need to Raise Rates at This Point’

30 October 2023

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Gediminas Šimkus on Monday became the latest Council member to suggest that the ECB’s decision not to hike interest rates last week was likely to be repeated at the December monetary policy meeting.

In remarks to media at the Bank of Lithuania, which he heads, Šimkus said, ‘In my view, if there’s no new staggering data, current restrictive levels are sufficient.’

‘There is and there was no need to raise rates at this point’, he said. ‘Will we need this in the future? We still have to wait and see. I’m hopeful this won’t be needed.’

Still, he rejected any discussion of monetary easing as ‘premature’, noting that price pressures remained high under conditions of great uncertainty.

‘We need strategic patience to keep rates at restrictive levels’, he said. ‘I’d be highly surprised to see a rate cut in the first half. I don’t think so.’