A first decrease in European Central Bank (ECB) interest rates may possibly come in June, Bank of Greece (BoG) Governor and ECB Governing Council member Yannis Stournaras told Bloomberg on Friday.
He added that recent data shows that the goal to keep inflation at 2% will be reached in the autumn.
Speaking in Ghent, Belgium on the sidelines of a European finance ministers and central bankers meeting, he said policymakers will make absolutely sure they don’t act prematurely and jeopardize the progress they’ve achieved to date.
As far as the rate of de-escalating interest rates, Stournaras said a return to a neutral level of around 2% could be achieved by the end of the year because of the greater uncertainty, as he said, over upcoming reductions – which will be along the lines of 0.25% every time.
He also said the ECB’s inflation target will be near its target sooner than expected.
