The President of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, made a video call before the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, which said that high inflation would be in the eurozone for “some time to come”. But experts were mainly waiting for her comments on the tightening of monetary policy. However, she did not say anything specific on this topic.
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The European Central Bank is under increased pressure precisely because of high inflation. It rose to 5.1 percent in the eurozone in January, a record since the introduction of the euro twenty years ago and more than double the bank’s inflation target.
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In her speech on Monday, Lagarde said that current price pressures would ease, allowing the central bank to meet the 2% inflation target in the medium term. According to her, rising energy prices have weakened household purchasing power in the past and reduced inflation in the medium term. Lagarde thus expects a similar scenario today.
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“We need more than ever to maintain flexibility in the conduct of monetary policy,” said the head of the ECB.
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She also added that the current pandemic wave and the associated restrictions will continue to have an adverse effect on economic growth earlier this year, but according to Lagarde, this impact will be lower than in previous waves of the coronavirus pandemic.
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