ECB setting stage for interest rate hike

Based on its analysis of the inflation rates in the eurozone countries, the European Central Bank (ECB) is setting the stage for an interest rate hike, the bank's President, Christine Lagarde, told the German media network Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND) in an interview published on Friday, reported Xinhua.

Lagarde said the ECB was "getting closer" to its two percent inflation target and it will raise interest rates "as soon as the pace is right."

The bank has already "begun to take measures" to fight the stubbornly high inflation, according to Lagarde.

The ECB's pandemic emergency purchase program (PEPP) will come to an end in March, which, according to Lagarde, is "a precondition for increasing interest rates at a later point in time."

Lagarde warned that hasty actions would risk hurting economic recovery and "jobs would be jeopardized" in the eurozone. "That wouldn't help anybody."

She insisted that "all of our moves will need to be gradual."

Elaborating on the source of the rise in prices, Lagarde explained that "over 50 percent of it can be attributed to the surge in energy prices" and to supply bottlenecks. "What can the ECB do about that?" she asked.

Raising interest rates will not help much in taming the current price rises and the ECB's hands are tied, Lagarde said.