ECB head urges not to rush to raise rates in eurozone

Financial markets, which are pricing in a faster-than-expected rate hike in Europe, should moderate their zeal, President of the European Central Bank Christine Lagarde said, Report informs referring to foreign media.

She noted that the aggressive pace of rate hikes won’t solve any of the current problems.

Expectations of a faster pace of monetary tightening in the euro area began to grow after the meeting of the ECB, held last week. Lagarde, following the meeting, did not rule out the possibility of a rate hike in 2022, which a number of economists and market experts considered hawkish rhetoric. In a speech to MEPs this week, Lagarde vowed to take a "step by step" approach to the interest rate adjustment process.

The European Commission this week raised its inflation forecast for 2022 to 3.5% from 2.2% expected in November.

Data released on February 11 showed a slowdown in consumer price growth in Germany in January.

Consumer prices in Germany, harmonized with EU standards, increased by 5.1% in annual terms in January, according to final data from the country's Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). Monthly inflation amounted to 0.9%. The dynamics of both indicators coincided with the previously announced data and the average forecasts of analysts surveyed by Trading Economics.

In December, consumer prices in Germany rose by 5.7% in annual terms and by 0.3% in monthly terms.