ECB Officials Zero In on December to See If 2% Inflation Target Reached

European Central Bank officials are anxiously awaiting the next edition of their economic forecasts — due in December — that will help them decide whether interest rates are low enough to sustainably deliver inflation of 2%.

Policymakers speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of European finance chiefs in Copenhagen were confident that a deposit rate of 2% was appropriate for the moment to achieve that goal. But opinions diverged on the severity of risks weighing on the outlook and the tolerance threshold toward a temporary undershoot.