ECB policymakers keen to cool euphoria over inflation drop

ECB policymakers keen to cool euphoria over inflation drop

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The European Central Bank needs to see further progress in
dampening inflationary pressures, and companies along with governments need to
chip in to prevent more policy tightening, ECB policymakers said on Wednesday.

Policymakers speaking at various venues across Europe
appeared keen to cool any euphoria about the rapid fall in prices, arguing that
the overall picture was more mixed. Some policymakers even argued that further
rate hikes should not be taken off the table.

• “You do see some progress (in underlying inflation),
  but not yet enough,” ECB chief economist Philip Lane said in Riga
• “The ‘last mile’ before we reach our inflation target
  may well be the hardest,” Nagel said in London.
• “It is far, far too early in my view to start talking
  about whether we need to start reducing or cutting rates… And also it is too
  early to declare that we have reached the top of the ladder” of interest
  rate hikes, Makhlouf said in Dublin.