The President of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, during a symposium at the World Trade Organization in Geneva on March 8, 2023
The President of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, promised on Wednesday to do “whatever it takes” to restore price stability, during a symposium at the World Trade Organization in Geneva.
“We are going to restore price stability and we will do whatever it takes,” assured Ms. Lagarde, referring to the high inflation that is hitting most countries in the euro zone and that the Central Bank that she leads has for a mandate to fight.
Ms. Lagarde also underlined “that the first victims of high inflation are the disadvantaged, the vulnerable, the least well paid, they are women. »
Last week she had suggested that the interest rate hikes of the institution she heads would continue beyond the month of March to curb inflation.
“As President of the ECB, my work is rather limited but it is of paramount importance and it is price stability, that is to say the fight against inflation generated by the energy crisis, caused by the terrible war against Ukraine”, underlined Ms. Lagarde, during this symposium in the company of the Director General of the WTO, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on the occasion of International Women’s Rights Day.
The guardians of the euro have raised rates by 3 percentage points since July in five consecutive meetings, an unprecedented turn in the face of inflation sailing at levels four times higher than the target of 2% aimed at in the medium term.
The annual inflation rate in the euro zone fell in February for the fourth month in a row, to 8.5% over one year, after 8.6% in January, according to Eurostat, but the drop is less steep than expected in due to high food prices.