MNI BRIEF: Average M/T Eurozone Infl May Be Above 2%: Weidmann

Flexibility, a key feature of the ECB's pandemic emergency purchase programme, should not to transferred to the central bank's other bond-buying programmes, Bundesbank chairman Jens Weidmann said in a speech Wednesday, with headline German inflation to hit 6% and 3% by the end of next year.

Average euro area HICP inflation may not fall below 2% again over the medium term, Weidmann said, as he warned against the potential financial stability risks created by course-correcting too quickly, versus a gradual rise in key interest rates.

"The emergency measures are rightly closely linked to the pandemic and must be ended as soon as the emergency situation has been overcome," he said. "Otherwise monetary policy threatens to get caught up in fiscal policy and the financial markets."

"In order not to let false expectations arise, you should already communicate with a clear voice today: We will ensure price stability even if there are conflicts with the goals of other policy areas. It is precisely in this case that the central banks were granted independence."