ECB Governing Council member Martins Kazaks said, “if Covid does not surprise on the negative side, there is some upside for the inflation outlook over the medium term.” But he added, “I am talking about decimals here.”

“There is perhaps some upside for those numbers to be revised up in the following forecasting rounds,” Kazaks said. “I agree with the current outlook, but I would say that the balance of risks for inflation are somewhat on the upside.”

“We hear some anecdotal evidence that there could be some wage pressures down the road, but we have not seen that yet in the data,” he said. “There is no reason to expect that inflation would be permanently very hot. If at some point inflation will be significantly higher than our strategy and monetary-policy mandate, then of course we will know how to react.”

ECB Governing Council member Olli Rehn said while growth in Eurozone is robust, supported is still needed. The outlook is clouded by bottlenecks as well as coronavirus variants.

The central bank is expected to debate in December on timing and the way to wind down the PEPP purchases. Rehn said he’s confident to find a ” viable and meaningful way of ensuring favorable financing conditions when we start our very gradual transition from the crisis measures to the next normal.”

He also urged governments to prepare for the eventual rise in borrowing cost even though a rate hike is “not yet within sight”. “It will nevertheless one day take place,” Rehn said. “This should be taken into account in budgetary planning in all the euro area countries.”

ECB Chief Economist Philip Lane said in a webinar, “it’s not a good idea to identify the monetary policy stance with the volume of asset purchases.” Instead, “the efficient approach is to emphasize persistence.”

“We’re happy that our monetary accommodation is strengthening the underlying inflation dynamic and over time — this will continue to build. We have a coherent policy setting,” he added.