Central Banks

ECB Is About to Drop a Big Clue on How Far It Will Cut Rates

  • Lagarde focused on fresh estimates for neutral, due on Friday
  • Officials have very different views on where that level is
Christine Lagarde Photographer: Alex Kraus/Bloomberg
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

The European Central Bank is about to throw a crucial piece of information into the debate over where euro-zone interest rates are headed.

Fresh estimates for the neutral rate — a theoretical level that neither limits nor spurs demand in the economy — will be published Friday. President Christine Lagarde has said she and her colleagues “will operate on the basis” of the paper to help determine “what our monetary-policy stance should be.”