Lagarde sees a new rate hike in July as "very likely" unless there is an "important" change

MADRID, 16 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, has assessed this Friday as "very likely" that the entity will raise interest rates again in July, unless there is a significant change in conditions.

Lagarde thus insists on the idea raised after the monetary policy meeting last Thursday, in which the ECB has applied a rise of 25 basis points, so that the reference rate for its refinancing operations has been located at 4%. .

"Our future decisions will guarantee that interest rates are taken to sufficiently restrictive levels to ensure that inflation returns to our medium-term objective of 2% in time," he commented this Friday during the G30 dinner in Amsterdam.

In addition, these future levels would be maintained "for as long as necessary", which is again reminiscent of his speech the day before, in which he explained that there was still a long way to go.

However, Lagarde has assured that the path that has already been taken to date has involved a "considerable" adjustment and this is already beginning to be felt throughout the transmission chain.

It won't be until July when the bank will follow a "data driven" approach to determine the appropriate level and duration of the restriction.