Lagarde: ECB determined to fight high inflation

European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde stated that the bank is determined to fight inflation and will bring interest rates to sufficiently restrictive levels. European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde emphasized that the Bank is determined to fight high inflation. Lagarde wrote a blog post on the 25th anniversary of the ECB's establishment. In the post, Lagarde stated that the ECB responded quickly to the outbreak by announcing measures during the Covid-19 outbreak, and emphasized that the Bank is acting with the same determination to bring down unusually high inflation today. Lagarde said, "After years of being very low, inflation is now very high and will continue to be so for a very long time. This reduces the value of money, its purchasing power. It affects people and companies in the Eurozone. It particularly negatively affects the most vulnerable segments of our society." Emphasizing that the ECB will bring inflation back to its medium-term 2 percent target, Lagarde said, "For this reason, we have increased interest rates at a record pace and will bring interest rates to sufficiently restrictive levels to bring inflation back to our target. We will keep monetary policy at these levels for as long as necessary." "It hasn't always been easy" Evaluating the work of the ECB over the last 25 years, Lagarde noted the following: "It hasn't always been easy. However, under the leadership of my predecessors Wim Duisenberg, Jean-Claude Trichet and Mario Draghi, the ECB has always been careful to fulfil its duty in good economic times as well as bad, and thereby strengthen the foundations of Europe's future." Since July 2022, the ECB has increased its main interest rates by a total of 375 basis points seven times in a row. Analysts expect a 25 basis point increase at the ECB interest rate meeting to be held on June 15. On the other hand, the ECB, the body responsible for monetary policy in the Eurozone, started its work on June 1, 1998. The ECB, headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, aims to maintain the value of the euro by ensuring price stability in the Eurozone. The euro is used by Germany, Austria, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Ireland, Spain, Italy, the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus (GCASC), Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Greece. Croatia also started using the euro at the beginning of this year.