ECB’s Nagel: Increasing Probability of Cutting Interest Rates Before Summer Recess

23 March 2024

By Aurėja Bobelytė – VILNIUS (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Joachim Nagel on Saturday said that cutting key interest rates before the summer break is becoming increasingly possible.

In an interview with German media group Funke Mediengruppe, Nagel, who heads the German Bundesbank, said that ‘the probability has increased as of late that we will cut the key interest rates before the summer recess’, but that certainty that inflation would continue to decline was crucial for this to happen.

New incoming economic data would have an important impact on the decision, he said.

Asked about the digital euro, Nagel said that he is ‘optimistic that we will have the digital euro in four to five years’ time’.

According to the head of the Bundesbank, the digital euro should be a success, making transactions more cost-efficient for retailers. ‘And privacy would be given maximum possible protection’, he added.