HELSINKI (Reuters) – The European Central Bank (ECB) is likely to decide to raise interest rates by half a point at its next two meetings in a bid to reduce inflationary pressures, council member Olli Rehn said on Friday.
“We will stay the course as indicated (on Thursday) by the President (of the ECB) (Christine) Lagarde and that will probably translate into rate hikes of 50 basis points at the next meetings, at least in my view. in February and March ,” Finland’s central bank governor said at a press conference.
“We will do everything necessary to contain inflation and stabilize it at the target (of 2%, editor’s note)”, he added. “There is still a long way to go.”
The rise in the consumer price index in the eurozone stood at 10.1% over a year in November, according to final figures published by Eurostat.
According to François Villeroy de Galhau, also a member of the ECB’s Governing Council, inflation should peak in the euro area in the first half of 2023, but “the game is not over”.
(Essi Lehto reporting, writing by Balazs Koranyi, French version Laetitia Volga, editing by Kate Entringer)
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