ECB’s Vasle: No Pre-Commitment; Inflation to Return to Target in the Course of 2025

18 October 2024

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Boštjan Vasle on Friday said that there was no predetermination regarding the ECB’s next steps after Thursday’s rate cut, and that inflation would be back at 2% sometime next year.

In a statement posted to the website of the Bank of Slovenia, which he heads, Vasle said, ‘Our decisions will continue to ensure the appropriate stance of monetary policy, with the aim of achieving a timely return of inflation to the 2% medium-term objective.’

‘At the same time, our further steps remain dependent on the current situation, i.e. on economic and financial data, the movement of core inflation and the effectiveness of our measures’, he continued. ‘This means that we are not committed to any predetermined path of interest rates, but will decide on their level at each meeting separately.’

Economic data had been ‘somewhat weaker’ than anticipated, he said, noting ‘visible signs of a gradual moderation in the demand for labour’, even if jobless was still at a historic low.

Inflation would ‘pick up again temporarily in the remainder of the year and then return to target again in the course of next year’, he said.