By Laura Contemori – ROME (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on Thursday said some governors considered raising interest rates at the July meeting, but policymakers ultimately agreed unanimously to leave rates unchanged and decide in September after receiving substantial new economic data.

Speaking at the press conference following the Governing Council meeting, Lagarde said that “[t]here were some governors who asked themselves whether we should not consider a hike, in other words raising the three interest rates.”

“We had really a good, thorough look at the data,” she said, adding that policymakers “all unanimously decided that we were positioned adequately to wait and be very attentive” to developments and incoming data.

Lagarde said the ECB had spent two days assessing developments since June, including the renewed escalation of the conflict in the Middle East and its impact on energy prices.

She said the ECB would assess the inflation outlook and the risks surrounding it, underlying inflation and monetary policy transmission, while also closely monitoring the intensity, duration and propagation of the energy shock.

Before the September meeting, the ECB will receive two monthly inflation readings, second-quarter GDP data, two consumer expectations indices, one compensation-per-employee reading and two PMI surveys, Lagarde said.

“We will be looking very carefully at all these data,” she said.

“The burden of proof is on data. As simple as that,” she added when asked whether the burden going into September rested with those favoring or opposing a hike.

Asked about a possible September rate increase, Lagarde said the ECB was not providing forward guidance and would continue to make decisions on a data-dependent, meeting-by-meeting basis.

“What we are doing is not giving any forward guidance,” she said. “We are giving framework guidance.”

Asked whether the ECB was already seeing second-round effects from higher energy prices, Lagarde said direct and indirect effects were evident, but there were no indications of second-round effects, including in the ECB’s corporate telephone survey.