European Central Bank chief vows to cope with EU inflation

President of the European Central Bank (ECB) Christine Lagarde has said the ECB’s policy will ensure inflation to get back to the target level.

The Bank intends to reduce inflation to 2 per cent and will definitely achieve this, she said in an interview with La Tribune Dimanche, Caliber.Az reports, citing the ECB website.

Lagarde added that it is also necessary to avoid an inflationary spiral. In September, the regulator raised the rate for the tenth time in a row to a record 4.5 per cent. Most ECB board members believe that maintaining this level for some time should be enough to bring inflation back to target.

According to Lagarde, the ECB's key rates have reached levels that, if maintained for a sufficiently long period, will help return inflation to target levels as quickly as possible.

The regulator's tough policy had a negative impact on the economy, which barely grew this year, but the goal was not to create a recession, she said.

The ECB chair expressed moderate optimism about near-term growth prospects despite Germany's drag.

Inflation persists but is slowing down, and economic growth is weakening, and this is why the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revised its forecasts down for the whole world, except for the United States, she noted.