ECB’s Holzmann: ‘I Am in Favour of a Possible Interest Rate Pause in April’

14 March 2025

ECB’s Holzmann: ‘I Am in Favour of a Possible Interest Rate Pause in April’
Robert Holzmann, governor of the Austrian National Bank, at the OeNB Chamber concert with members of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in Frankfurt on December 11, 2024. Photo by Bernd Roselieb for the ECB under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Robert Holzmann said on Friday that he would back holding interest rates when the Council meets in April.

In an interview with German financial newsletter Der Platow Brief, Holzmann, who heads the Austrian National Bank, said that he was ‘in favour of a possible interest rate pause in April.’

The meeting on April 17 would be focused on how many Governing Council members who have previously supported a cut but have expressed their worries are ready to cut again, he said.

Despite a pause in April, the ECB could still cut interest rates in the summer, June being the earliest meeting, he said.

A rate hike might be necessary if inflation rises due to trade tensions, higher defense expenditures and the easing of the German debt brake, according to Holzman.

‘In that case, monetary policy would likely have to go in the other direction’, he said.

 

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