MNI BRIEF: Two 25 Bps Hikes Seen In July, Sept - ECB's Lane

The ECB's policy is for a gradual normalisation of policy, which, at present, points to two 25 bps rate hikes by the end of the third quarter, Chief Economist Philip Lane said in an interview published Monday.

"Normalisation has a natural focus on moving in units of 25 basis points, so increases of 25 basis points in the July and September meetings are a benchmark pace," he told Spain's business paper Cinco Dias. MNI has recently reported this appeared the current consensus position of the Governing Council (MNI SOURCES1: ECB Seen Making Two To Three 25-BP Hikes In 2022).

Stressing that President Christine Lagarde's decision to lay out a clear roadmap in a recent blog was correct giving heightened uncertainties, Lane said a larger 50 bps hikes would likely be discussed, but the "current assessment of the situation, where we think the medium-term inflation outlook is in line with our two per cent target, calls for a gradual approach to normalisation."