NEWS: The ECB's interest rate changes depend on the recession
please contact sales@tanchin.hk for any inquiry
In an interview Sunday, European Central Bank policymaker Francois Villeroy de Galhau said the timing of the ECB's first rate hike depends on whether the current slowdown in the euro zone will be temporary or sustained.
The ECB said its goal was to keep interest rates at their current historic low for at least the whole summer, but as economic growth slowed, its long-term interest rate guidelines became increasingly out of sync with market expectations.
In an interview with Spanish newspaper El Pais, Villeroy said the ECB would carefully review the flow of economic data when asked whether recent data would reduce the likelihood of a summer rate increase.
"The key issue is if the slowdown is temporary - there will be a rebound this year - or more lasting," said Villeroy, head of the French Central Bank, who was seen as the year of the leader to succeed Mario Draghi as president of the European Central Bank.