Europe’s inflation likely hasn’t peaked, ECB’s Lagarde says
Associated PressBRUSSELS — The head of the European Central Bank said Monday she does not believe inflation has peaked after reaching the highest levels on record. ECB President Christine Lagarde also told European lawmakers that the bank isn’t through raising interest rates to combat those price spikes. That means the central bank will “continue to tame inflation with all the tools that we have,” primarily interest rate hikes, Lagarde told the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. Following the bank’s third major rate hike in October, marking its fastest pace of increases ever, the ECB expects “to raise rates further to the levels needed to ensure that inflation returns to our 2% medium-term target in a timely manner,” she said. Russia’s war hit Europe particularly hard, “given our proximity to the conflict and our dependence on energy imports” from Russia, Lagarde said Monday.