ECB’s Makhlouf: “We Are Near the Bottom”

29 September 2025

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Gabriel Makhlouf on Monday said that the ECB was close to being done cutting interest rates.

In an interview with the FT, Makhlouf, who heads the Central Bank of Ireland, said, “Relatively speaking, we are near the bottom” of the easing cycle.

“But … we’re not on a pre-determined path … I am pleased with where we are, but we need to pay pretty close attention to what’s going on,” he wa quoted as saying. The effect of US tariffs on European goods “is still to feed through,” he said.

“[T]here’s so much uncertainty still out there that it would be a bit of a mistake to say we know exactly where we’re going to be,” he said.

According to the newspaper, Makhlouf did not yet know what his preferred policy option would be at the Governing Council’s next meeting one month from now.