ECB sends message of 'continued tightening'

The number of officials who are of the opinion that interest rate hikes should continue at the European Central Bank (ECB) is increasing. Messages of interest rate hikes are coming from the European Central Bank. While European Central Bank (ECB) Governing Council members Joachim Nagel, Edward Scicluna, Robert Holzmann and Martins Kazaks stated in their evaluations yesterday that the bank should take more steps against inflation, some of these names supported a 50 basis point interest rate hike at the ECB meeting on May 4. Nagel, who is also the president of the Bundesbank, pointed out that core inflation in the Eurozone is still very high and said, “We still have a way to go”; while Scicluna, who is the president of the Central Bank of Malta, said, “We are concerned that core inflation has not yet peaked.” In an interview with CNBC, Austrian Central Bank President Holzmann pointed to a 50 basis point interest rate hike for the May meeting, emphasizing core inflation. Kazaks, who heads the Latvian central bank, said a 50 basis point step could be on the agenda at next month's meeting and that there was no reason to slow down interest rate hikes at the moment.