By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Chief Economist Philip Lane said on Friday that it would have been difficult to justify leaving interest rates unchanged at the ECB's June meeting, given the deterioration in the inflation outlook.

Speaking at the Natixis International SSA Conference in Paris, Lane said that “[i]t would be very hard to make the case we should have stayed” at 2%, noting that inflation was now above target while the euro area economy and financial system remained resilient.

He said that was why the ECB decided to raise rates, describing the decision as "pretty straightforward."

“There’s enough cost increases in the pipeline that we think inflation will be above 3% the rest of this year,” he said.

He also reiterated remarks made earlier this week that the upper end of the ECB's neutral rate estimates had risen to around 2.5%.

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