ECB’s Lagarde: ‘We Are Not Quite at Target Yet. There Is Still a Bit of Work to Do’

2 April 2025

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Following are the key comments made by European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde in an interview on Wednesday with Newstalk:

‘And we had come from very high inflation that was precipitated by a combination of shocks that came, you know, one after the other, and compounded each other, and we are now very close to target. So, the disinflationary process is well underway. We are not quite at target yet. There is still a bit of work to do, But we are, we are really, I think, you know, quite satisfied with the work that we have done.’
‘But yes, we will have little, little bumps up. But I think what matters is this sort of medium-term approach and sustainable 2% that we want to reach. And I really think that with the work that we've done with, first of all, hiking interest rates to fight inflation and bring it down, and now cutting interest rates, as we have by 150bp for 1.5% down. We are, as I said, I think close to target.’
‘Well, predictability is in very short supply at the moment, for sure, and I don't think that I have ever mentioned the word “uncertainty” as many times as I have in the last few weeks, because we simply don't really know to this day, which is supposed to be the day when it is announced, what the deal will be for the rest of the world. But what we know is that it will not be good for the global economy, and it will not be good for those who inflict the rates, and all those who retaliate, I mean, it's going to unsettle the trade world as we know it. And I think Peter Sutherland would turn in his grave if he knew what what is going on at the moment.’
‘Okay, what I mean by [saying that the tariffs are the beginning of European independence] is we should not be exclusively focused on what is happening on the other side of the pond, and we should focus on the strength that we have at home and how we can regain a degree of independence that we don't have. And that applies to defence. It applies to trade of course, it applies to finance, and from my perspective, it applies to the way money moves around Europe. So by that, I mean capital markets, which are completely scattered all over Europe and which have to be better organised, more consolidated, converging and possibly singly supervised. That's one thing. The second thing, which I think is really important for all of us, is to have digital payment under our control. When you think of it at the moment, a lot of our digital payment, when you pay… e commerce or peer to peers, or you use your card or your phone, you always rely on non-European infrastructure.’