The European Central Bank is in the final leg of its historic cycle of interest-rate increases, according to Vice President Luis de Guindos.
“We have now entered the home stretch of our monetary policy tightening path,” Guindos told Il Sole 24 Ore. “And that’s why we are returning to normality, to 25 basis-point steps.”
The ECB has raised borrowing costs by 375 basis points since July as it seeks to tame inflation, though it slowed this month’s rate hike to a quarter point. While markets anticipate two more moves of that size in June and July, some officials are starting to accept that more may be needed beyond that, according to people familiar with the debate.
Guindos reiterated the official ECB stance that possible future steps will depend on data and be decided on a meeting-by-meeting basis.
Read More : ECB’s tightening path nearing the end, according to Guindos in interview with Sole