2023-09-01 07:50:00
The European Central Bank (ECB) is “close or very close” to the “high point” of its interest rates, said Friday in Paris the governor of the Banque de France, François Villeroy de Galhau.
Before the next meeting of European central bankers on September 14, “our options are open” between further rate hikes or the status quo, he said during a breakfast meeting with journalists.
In an attempt to curb inflation, the ECB raised its rates for the first time in mid-July 2022. It has chained eight rate hikes since then, bringing them to 3.75%, a record since the spring of 2001.
“We are close or very close to the high point of our interest rates,” said François Villeroy de Galhau on Friday.
“However, we are still far from the moment when we might consider lowering them,” he warned.
According to the minutes of the ECB’s last meeting, held in July, the institution first considered taking a break in raising rates before finally deciding unanimously for a further 25-point hike. basic.
On Thursday, ECB executive board member Isabel Schnabel for her part considered that a “sufficiently restrictive” monetary policy was “essential” to bring inflation in the euro zone back to 2%, the objective pursued by the ECB. , without however taking a firm position on the next meeting.
On Friday, François Villeroy de Galhau also announced that the Banque de France would review in mid-September “a little upwards” its French growth forecast for the year 2023.
Until now, the French central bank had forecast a 0.7% increase in France’s GDP in 2023, a projection 0.3 points lower than that of the government (1%).
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