MNI BRIEF: All Options Open, But ECB Will Not Rush - Villeroy

It is still too soon to predict when the European Central Bank will raise interest rates, though current high inflation levels should be taken seriously, French central bank chief Francois Villeroy de Galhau will say in speech to be given later on Friday.

"Yesterday, in the face of increasing uncertainty on inflation, our key word as Christine Lagarde said, was “more than ever” optionality," the Banque de France Governor will say at the University of Warwick,.

"We retain our full optionality on the decisions we will make from March and in the following quarters, informed then by the latest data, forecasts and geopolitical developments. And as we clearly stick to our sequencing - starting with first tapering and second lift off - we will also retain our full optionality about the pace of this sequence, and timing of moving from one stage to the other.

"Hence, while the direction of the journey is clear, one shouldn’t rush to conclusions about its calendar: it will remain gradual, state dependent, and open in each of its steps.”