ECB’s Nagel: No Reason to Change Stance, Unclear What Could Prompt a Shift

15 October 2025

By Marta Vilar – WASHINGTON (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Joachim Nagel said that there was no reason for moving ECB interest rates and that it was difficult to envision scenarios that would call for a shift in policy.

In an interview with CNBC on the margins of the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and IMF in Washington, Nagel, who heads the Deutsche Bundesbank, said that it was “too early to give any indication of what is coming next,” but noted that inflation was close to the ECB’s target.

“I do not see any reason changing anything if there is not something new coming, and I do not know where it might come from,” he said.

He described services inflation as “still pretty high” and “very sticky,” which to him suggested that the ECB should not be complacent, but instead remain vigilant.

“So, the information that I see at least for the moment is not giving me enough arguments changing anything,” he said.

Trade tensions would not benefit the economy, he said, noting that tariff measures would produce no winners.

On France, he remarked that markets were assessing the country “in a way that I believe is appropriate” and voiced confidence that the government would reach a budget agreement.

He said that the Transmission Protection Instrument (TPI) was designed solely for cases where the transmission of monetary policy was at risk, not as a tool to address fiscal issues.