MNI BRIEF: Inflation No Longer A Problem For ECB - Centeno
MNI (ROME) - High inflation is no longer a problem in the euro area and the European Central Bank should avoid allowing to return to low levels, Bank of Portugal Governor Mario Centeno said on Thursday, adding that he is convinced that inflation will converge to the 2% target.
The experience of the years before the Covid pandemic, when inflation averaged 0.9%, should not be avoided, Centeno said in a speech, insisting the ECB should ensure that “the past doesn’t repeat."
U.S. growth, labour and fiscal policies are not sustainable, but Europe should not over-react to divergences with the other side of the Atlantic, said Centeno, adding that the American economy only started to grow faster after Covid, helped by not being hit by an energy crisis. (See MNI SOURCES: ECB Closer To Dropping "Restrictive" Language)