ECB’s Rehn: Speed and Scope of Rate Cuts to Hinge on Our Assessment of Developments

22 October 2024

By David Barwick – WASHINGTON (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Olli Rehn on Tuesday said that the size and frequency of ECB monetary easing going forward would depend on authorities’ view of developments each time they meet to consider the policy stance.

In remarks at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, Rehn, who heads the Bank of Finland, said, ‘The direction of rate changes is clear. The speed and the scope of rate cuts will depend on our overall assessment in every meeting’.

A soft landing of the euro area economy remained ‘a plausible scenario’, he said.

‘On the other hand, growth is sluggish’, he continued. ‘The growth outlook has weakened quite clearly in the last months’, which could put downward pressure on inflation.

Policymakers were now more confident that inflation was converging towards the ECB’s 2% price stability target on a sustained basis, he said.