If interest rates need to be raised in 2023, the Governing Council will do so in smaller steps. Gabriel Makhlouf, Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland and member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank, said this on Sunday.
Fastest rate hike in history
The European Central Bank began raising its interest rates at the fastest pace in its history in July this year. And financial markets are betting that the December increase will be quite massive. Estimates most often refer to an increase of 0.5 to 0.75 percentage point. The next ECB monetary policy meeting is scheduled for 15 December.
Gabriel Makhlouf, the Governor of the Bank of Ireland and a member of the Governing Council (the monetary policy decision-making body), admitted that he could imagine just such a rate hike and that he was willing to discuss such a rate rise.
Next year, rate increases will be more gradual
“If we’re talking about next year, if there is a need to continue to raise rates, it will probably be in smaller steps,” Reuters quoted Makhlouf as saying in an interview with Ireland’s Sunday Independent. According to Makhlouf, it is then necessary to observe what such a rate hike will do to the eurozone economy. “I think we will see inflation falling by the second half of next year,” he added.
