Central Banks
ECB’s Top Economist Signals Smaller Hikes After ‘Major’ Step Last Week
- Chief economist calls 75 basis-point move ‘appropriate’
- Other ECB officials may be open to another outsized increase
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The European Central Bank’s unusually large interest-rate hike last week was “appropriate,” Chief Economist Philip Lane said, while signaling that future steps are likely to get smaller.
With euro-area inflation rates far too high, a “major step” was needed to accelerate the shift away from highly accommodative borrowing costs, Lane said Wednesday. The Irish economist is considered one of the ECB’s most dovish policy makers, and is also responsible for crafting the proposals presented to the Governing Council.