ECB’s Holzmann Sees No Rate Rise Need on Price Outlook: Kurier
ECB’s Holzmann Sees No Rate Rise Need on Price Outlook: Kurier
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(Bloomberg) -- Projections for inflation to taper off beyond 2021 suggest there is “no occasion to raise interest rates” for now, European Central Bank Governing Council member Robert Holzmann said in an interview with an Austrian newspaper.
Rates would need to rise if inflation approaches 2% on a “sustained basis,” Der Kurier cited Holzmann, governor of the Austrian central bank, as saying. He referred to ECB projections for euro-area annual inflation to decline from 1.9% this year to 1.5% in 2022 and 1.4% in 2023.
“This falling inflation forecast gives no occasion to raise interest rates,” Holzmann said, while cautioning that, “in a longer-term view, that could look different.”
The ECB is entering a challenging stage of the pandemic crisis, as economic recovery picks up amid a drop in Covid-19 infections and accelerating vaccination campaigns, even as many companies and households still need support.
For now, officials maintain there’s no reason to think high inflation rates will persist. ECB chief economist Philip Lane this week told Bloomberg Television that he sees few signs of stimulus spending translating into higher wages and creating a upward spiral of prices.
Read more: Lane Downplays Urgency of September Meeting for ECB Shift
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