Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank (ECB), explains the ECB’s decision to lower the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points at the December policy meeting and responds to questions from the press.
Key quotes
“Underlying inflation is in line with sustained return to target.”
“Profits to partially offset higher labour cost.”
“Expecting inflation to fluctuate near current level in near term.”
“Most measures of inflation expectations at around 2%.”
“Risks to growth are tilted to downside.”
“Trade friction could weigh on growth.”
“Wages, profits, geopolitics are among upside risks to inflation.”
“Downside risks to inflation include low confidence, geopolitical stress, low investment.”
“Macroprudential policy remains the first line of defense against the build-up of financial vulnerabilities.”
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