MNI BRIEF: No Justification For Further ECB Hike - Villeroy

Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy said Friday there is no justification for a further rise in ECB interest rates, noting the recent eurozone data showed significant falls in the rate of price increases.

Recent inflation data clearly showed that euro zone inflation was on track to fall to its 2% target by 2025, he said in an interview with German newspaper Handelsblatt. Villeroy said that the focus of the ECB’s policy discussion had now moved away from where the peak in rates might be to how long rates should stay at their current plateau, adding that expectations on both sides of the Atlantic had been a “bit too optimistic about an early cut in rates”.

The governor also noted there had been a somewhat excessive rise in long-term rates since the ECB’s September 14 rate hike, but said that this would serve to further tighten financing conditions in Europe.

The governor said he saw no sign of a wage-price spiral, noting that while there had been a rise in nominal pay in France, this is currently moving past its peak and there would be a deceleration in pay growth in the quarters to come. That trend would also be true, he said, for Germany and The Netherlands.