ECB’s Makhlouf: ‘Monetary Policy Is Working’

27 January 2024

By Isabel Teles – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Gabriel Makhlouf on Saturday said that monetary policy was effective and inflation was on positive trajectory towards the ECB’s 2% target.

In an interview with daily newspaper The Irish Times, Makhlouf, who heads the Central Bank of Ireland, said, ‘Monetary policy is working and we’re seeing disinflation ... inflation is tracking downward in the EU and also in Ireland.’

He did not comment on market expectations of interest rate cuts in June, but said that the ECB had ‘probably reached the top of the ladder’ with interest rates and that any changes in the current monetary policy stance would be data-dependent.

The ECB was in ‘a good place’ to reach its 2% inflation target in the medium term and a soft landing could be expected, he said.