ECB Governing Council member Klaas Knot said, “I consider it highly unlikely that the March hike will be our endpoint.”
“If underlying inflation pressures do not materially abate, maintaining the current pace of hikes into May could well remain warranted,” he added.
He also noted that ECB’s focus “has shifted from energy, headline inflation to breaking underlying inflation.” It will take “some time before core inflation slows down.”
“Once we see a clear and decisive turn in underlying inflation dynamics, I therefore expect us to move to smaller steps,” he said. “But absent such a turn, the ECB will continue to stay the course on its steady pace upwards, in pursuit of price stability.”