ECB’s Lagarde: We Are Almost at Our 2% Inflation Target

31 March 2025

By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said on Monday that inflation in the Eurozone was almost at the ECB’s target of 2%.

In an interview with French radio France Inter, Lagarde said that the inflationary crisis was ‘clearly over’ and that ‘we’re almost on target, but we have to stay there.’

‘I'm analysing the data as we go along’, she said. ‘Let's not anticipate, don't make forecasts about what's going to come next week, next month, but record all the data and really have a serious analysis.’

The ECB had succeeded in bringing inflation down, she said.

‘[T]o do that we have to maintain an interest rate that is just going to be well calibrated at the right level and that will necessarily vary according to the degree of uncertainty, also according to the shocks that we will receive’, she added.

If US President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement this week were to fulfill his recent promises, Lagarde said the estimated impact on euro area growth would be -0.3%, -0.5% if there were retaliation.

Asked which European country would be most affected by tariffs, Lagarde mentioned Germany due to its highly export-oriented model, while adding that ‘we don’t really know how it will be applied’.