ECB’s Centeno: Acceleration in May Inflation ‘Not a Significant Deviation’

31 May 2024

By Isabel Teles – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Mário Centeno on Friday said that the May inflation flash estimate of 2.6%, up from 2.4% in April, was not far from the expected inflation path.

In a public lecture to students in Elvas, Portugal, Centeno, who heads the Banco de Portugal, said, ‘We already knew that inflation was going to accelerate a little in May, it accelerated a little above what we expected, 2.6% versus 2.5%… it is not a significant deviation.’

The ECB’s confidence in the disinflation process remained unchanged, he said.

‘We have some confidence today that inflation is converging towards 2%, and this will allow us to change the monetary policy cycle, allowing us to transmit more confidence to the economy’, he said.