MNI BRIEF: ECB Should Move Away From Negative Rates-Holzmann

Austrian central bank governor Robert Holzmann said the European Central Bank should move away from negative interest rates in 2022, adding that he was optimistic for the economy in 2022, though he cautioned that health and geopolitical factors have made forecasting more difficult.

"The decisive factor in the new year will be to gradually initiate the exit from negative interest rates and unconventional monetary policy and to avoid any proximity to monetary state financing," Holzmann said in his review of 2021, adding that Austrian inflation should fall to 2.3% and then to 2.0% in 2023 and 2024.

“I think, in retrospect, this year is like a half-filled water glass,” he said. "I can say the glass is half full or half empty, depending on whether I'm an optimist or a pessimist. Personally, I'm an optimist at this point.”