Lagarde: Inflation too high, will persist too long
European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde remarked on Thursday that inflation in the Eurozone is excessively high and will persist for an extended period of time.
In her speech at a German bank event in Hanover, Lagarde noted that "inflation is too high and it is set to remain so for too long," but promised that the ECB is "determined" to achieve the 2% target rate "in a timely manner." Still, she explained that the uncertainty regarding the effectiveness or impact of the policy measures persists, stressing the "need to continue our [ECB's] hiking cycle."
Lagarde specified that a new set of projections will become available at June 15 meeting, helping the policymakers gauge the next steps, as they cannot affirm their satisfaction with the inflation outlook at this time. Her remarks come as Eurostat today revealed that annual inflation had dropped to 6.1% in May from 7% in April.