In a European Parliament committee hearing, ECB President Christine Lagarde reiterated the policy decision made at June meeting, including ending the asset purchase program, scheduling to raise interest rate by 25bps in July, and to raise interest rates again in September.
As for the September hike, “if the medium-term inflation outlook persists or deteriorates, a larger increment (than 25bps) will be appropriate.”
Beyond September, ECB anticipates that “a gradual but sustained path of further increases in interest rates will be appropriate”, depending on incoming data.
