MNI BRIEF: No Sign Of Sustained Inflation Downturn - Lagarde

The ECB is neither committed to raising rates, nor is finished raising rates, president Christine Lagarde said Wednesday, as she highlighted the key role played by wage developments in determining the outlook for inflation and the possible slowing of monetary policy's dampening effect on demand.

Eurosystem staff inflation projections will be central to the ECB's assessment of inflation dynamics, she said, although confidence band in those produced this month is "unusually wide," due to the fact they do not capture recent financial tension. Other assumptions - notably those associated with fiscal policy and energy prices - are subject to volatility, resulting in additional uncertainty around the baseline scenario.

So far the ECB has not seen evidence in real time indicators of the "sustained downturn" in underlying inflation needed for inflation to converge at target durably, she said, with falling energy costs pushing prices down, as domestic price pressures, and core inflation in particular, continue to rise.