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Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank, assured during the 25th anniversary of the ECB, that “the immediate and paramount priority is for inflation to return to” the medium-term objective of 2% “and we will achieve it”.
During the ceremony to commemorate the 256th anniversary of the creation of the European Central Bank, ECB, Christine Lagarde, President of the ECB, reaffirmed the institution’s commitment to return inflation to the 2% target.
The event, held at the bank’s headquarters in Frankfurt, was attended by personalities such as the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, and the President of the European Council. , Charles Michel.
“We still have to have high and sustainable interest rates, so it’s time to tighten our belts and look at the target we have and meet it,” Lagarde said. “Our target is simple and straightforward: price stability. And we have to be totally determined to get it,” he added.
“We are heading towards more delicate decisions in the future, but we will be brave and we will take the necessary decisions to return inflation to 2%. And we will do it, there is no doubt,” Lagarde said.
The ECB, born in 1998, is the guardian institution of the euro, the currency already used officially as a form of payment by almost 350 million citizens in twenty European countries.
After a decade of low inflation, an average of 1.2% during Draghi’s presidency, very low and even negative interest rates, the ECB faces high inflation aggravated by the rise in energy prices as a result of the Russian invasion in Ukraine.
Since July 2022, the ECB began to raise its interest rates, for the first time since 2011, but inflation is still around 7% per year. The bank stopped buying debt and withdrew very cheap liquidity from the euro monetary system.
With EFE and Reuters
