Bini Smaghi Says ECB May Raise Rates on Price Risks

European Central Bank Executive Board member Lorenzo Bini Smaghi said the bank may need to raise interest rates as global inflation pressures mount.

“As the economy gradually recovers and global inflationary pressures arise, the degree of accommodation of monetary policy has to be monitored and, if needed, corrected,” Bini Smaghi said in an interview with daily newsletter Bloomberg Brief: Economics. Commodity-price increases will “have an unavoidable impact” and “it is a key challenge for monetary policy to avoid spillovers and maintain inflation expectations in check,” he said. “This requires the ability to take pre-emptive actions if needed.”