Some members of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) governing council are in favor of leaving the door open to further interest rate hikes in the eurozone.
This is according to the minutes of the monetary policy meeting on October 25 and 26, which the ECB published today and which reflect the discussions that led the monetary authority to keep interest rates at 4.5% after ten consecutive hikes since July 2022 .
“Some (ECB) members were in favor of leaving the door open for possible further interest rate hikes,” which would depend on economic data, minutes of the meeting said.
Even after maintaining interest rates at its late October meeting, some ECB members believed the ECB should be prepared to “raise interest rates if necessary, even if this is not part of the current baseline scenario.”
The meeting emphasized that “the Governing Council must be persistent and vigilant.”
“Perseverance was considered necessary to bring inflation to 2% over the medium term,” as well as persistence and patience as further shocks could arise in the economy, the minutes added.
“The vigilance meant that while the Governing Council had to evaluate the effectiveness of its measures and recognize the progress made, it should avoid overconfidence and complacency, taking into account possible new problems that could arise until inflation returns to target levels,” the document says.
At the same time, the Governing Council agrees that the eurozone economy is weak and that the economic outlook has worsened.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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