European Central Bank President Affirms Commitment To Contain Record Inflation

By Linda Ike

President of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde says the central bank is committed to contain record levels of inflation.

Lagarde who stated this on Wednesday in Frankfurt said the Central bank will do everything possible to raise interest rates in the next few meetings.

She said If the ECB does not fulfil its mandate to ensure price stability, that it would hurt the economy much more

Currentnews.com.ng gathered that the Frankfurt-based central bank seeks to keep inflation stable at around 2 percent.

“In August, consumer prices in the currency area were 9.1percent above the level of the same month last year.

“Soaring energy prices and supply bottlenecks are among the factors that have been fuelling inflation for months.

“The euro currency guardians long interpreted rising inflation as a temporary phenomenon” Lagarde stated.

She explained that there were concerns that the rapid normalisation of the loose monetary policy that has been in place for years would stifle the economy.

Lagarde spoke of forecasting errors, saying that current developments were much greater in magnitude than what the bank had expected.

The Euro area’s key interest rate now stands at 1.25 percent, after two hefty rate hikes in July and September,

The next regular meeting of the ECB Governing Council is scheduled for October 27, 2022.