ECB could face risk of falling behind the curve, Villeroy says
NEW YORK, Oct 22 (Reuters) -The European Central Bank could undershoot its inflation target, especially if growth remains sluggish, and the bank could then be at risk of acting too late in unwinding past rate hikes, French central bank chief Francois Villeroy de Galhau said on Tuesday.
The ECB cut rates three times already this year from a record high and markets now see cuts at each of its next four or five meetings as growth is flatlining around zero and inflation is lower than forecast.
"We are not behind the curve today but agility should prevent us from running such a risk," Villeroy told a lecture at New York University. "The risk of reducing too late our restrictive stance could indeed become more significant relativeto the one of acting too quickly."
"I plead for agile pragmatism in the further reduction of our restrictive bias," he said.
While policymakers have for years warned about the risk of inflation staying too high, a growing number now argue that the balance of risk has swung the other way and excessively low price growth was also a risk.
"There is ... (a) risk that inflation undershoots, especially if growth remains subpar," Villeroy said.
Villeroy said the big drop in inflation supported the case for the ECB to end monetary restriction and return the 3.25% deposit rate to a neutral setting, a level he did not describe but which markets put on either side of 2%.
Inflation, predicted by ECB staff at 2% only in late 2025, could actually get back to target early in the year and there was a significant downside to price growth, Villeroy said.
"If we are next year sustainably at 2% inflation, and with still a sluggish growth outlook in Europe, there won't be any reasons for our monetary policy to remain restrictive, and for our rates to be above the neutral rate of interest," Villeroy said.
He argued that growth will remain particularly weak and even if a soft landing was still the most likelyscenario, there was no reason to expect a take off, suggesting that two years of sluggish growth could continue.
Reporting by Michael Derby, Writing by Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Ros Russell
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
