ECB Governing Council member Ignazio Visco said in a BloombergTV interview, “we can move gradually, raising interest rates in the coming months.” June is too early as the central bank will be ending net asset purchase. But, “we will move after that — after that, means perhaps July.”
“Now I think that we can move out of this negative territory,” Visco said, referring to the deposit rate, which has been negative since 2014. “Gradual means in my view that we have to understand that we should move without creating uncertainty in the market.”
Separately, Governing Council member Madis Muller said the focus needs to be on fighting high inflation. Martins Kazaks said he hoped the first hike will “take place in July”.
