ECB Council Members Split in Jackson Hole Over Rate Cuts

European Central Bank Governing Council members are split over whether scope remains for further interest-rate cuts as evidence mounts that the euro-area economy is on the mend.

Policy makers still can’t rule out lowering the benchmark rate from the record low of 0.5 percent, Central Bank of Cyprus Governor Panicos Demetriades said in an Aug. 24 interview in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. By contrast, Bank of Austria Governor Ewald Nowotny said on Aug. 22 he doesn’t see “many arguments now for a rate cut” after the recent “stream of good news.”