ECB’s Nagel: ‘US Administration Has Dealt a Severe Blow to the Economic Situation’

8 April 2025

ECB’s Nagel: ‘US Administration Has Dealt a Severe Blow to the Economic Situation’
Joachim Nagel, president of the German Bundesbank, at the European Central Bank Governing Council meeting in Ljubljana on October 17, 2024. Photo by Adrian Petty/ECB.

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Joachim Nagel on Tuesday said that the imposition of tariffs by the US was a ‘severe blow’.

In a statement issued by the German Bundesbank, which he heads, Nagel said, ‘The US administration has dealt a severe blow to the economic situation with its tariff decisions. Global growth prospects have deteriorated dramatically. A loss of prosperity will follow.’

Markets had taken into account the changed situation, which accounted for steeply lower share prices, he said. The volatility would continue, making it all the more important that Germany and Europe become more resilient, he said.

Nagel called again for a capital market and banking union and thus ‘a Europe that stands closer together.’

Monetary policy also had a role, he said, given the fundamental importance of price stability.

‘We are already well on track to achieve our inflation target this year’, he said. ‘At the upcoming meeting of the ECB Governing Council next week, we will make responsible decisions based on the data and news available, as we have always done.’