ECB still has a bit of work to do on prices: Lagarde

[BRUSSELS] The European Central Bank’s fight against inflation isn’t yet over, even as price growth approaches the 2 per cent goal, according to President Christine Lagarde.

“We are now very close to target, so the disinflationary process is well underway,” Lagarde told Irish radio station Newstalk in an interview. “There’s still a bit of work to do, but we are really quite satisfied with the work that we have done.”

Consumer prices in the 20-nation eurozone rose 2.2 per cent in March, data this week showed, with policymakers expecting to sustainably achieve their goal in the coming quarters. After six interest-rate reductions since June, the ECB is weighing whether to continue cutting or pause at its next meeting in just over two weeks.

“The target we have is 2 per cent in the medium term on a sustainable basis,” Lagarde said. “We will have little bumps up, but what matters is this sort of medium-term approach.”

Turning to US trade policies hours before US President Donald Trump’s highly anticipated tariffs announcement, she said predictability is in “very short supply” at the moment.

“But what we know is that it will not be good for the global economy, and it’ll not be good for those who inflict the rates and or those who retaliate,” Lagarde said. “It’s going to unsettle the trade world as we know it.” BLOOMBERG