By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Gabriel Makhlouf said Friday that the ECB needed to get ahead of inflation and that it would have been a mistake not to act.

Makhlouf, who heads the Central Bank of Ireland, told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that inflation was now “on the up” and that policymakers had to prevent the problem from becoming more acute.

“We need to get ahead of it,” he said.

The ECB was seeing a broader impact from higher prices, Makhlouf said.

“We’re now seeing a much more broad-based impact,” he said. “We’re seeing indirect effects.”

“It would be a mistake for us to do nothing,” he said.

In separate comments on Irish fiscal policy, Makhlouf said it did not make sense for the government to borrow money to fund savings vehicles.

“Borrowing money for saving funds doesn’t make sense,” he said.