ECB president says further interest rate cuts to be expected-Xinhua

ECB president says further interest rate cuts to be expected

Source: Xinhua

Editor: huaxia

2024-12-16 20:45:30

VILNIUS, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- After the European Central Bank (ECB) lowered its key interest rates Thursday, ECB President Christine Lagarde said Monday that further rate cuts are on the way.

"This is not the last interest rate cut that we are making," Lagarde told a news conference during an annual economic conference organized by the Bank of Lithuania, the Baltic News Service reported.

"And, hopefully, this will be properly transmitted by the banking system, in particular, and it will benefit the people, who are borrowing, have borrowed," she added.

On Thursday, the ECB cut its key interest rates by a further 25 basis points to 3 percent.

The ECB president noted that in addition to upside risks to inflation, "downside risk might come from some of the geopolitical developments, including, for instance, the change of the American policy in relation to trade."

She reiterated that the ECB's target remains 2 percent inflation over the medium term. "We believe now that the risks are two-sided," she said.