Central Banks

ECB Mustn’t Undershoot Its 2% Inflation Target, Centeno Warns

Portuguese official is rare ECB voice open to earlier cuts
Investors are betting on six 25 basis-point reductions in 2024

Mario Centeno at the World Economic Forum in Davos, on Jan. 16.Photographer: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg

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By Alessandro Speciale, Joao Lima, and Mark Schroers

January 16, 2024 at 2:49 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

The European Central Bank mustn’t let inflation dip below its target, Governing Council member Mario Centeno warned — further signaling his openness to consider lowering interest rates sooner than most of his colleagues.

“We need to avoid that — the goal is 2% and we need to carry a policy trajectory that takes us to 2%,” the Portuguese official told Bloomberg Television on Tuesday. “We should definitely avoid undershooting inflation.”