Lane (ECB)-The first rate hike is not the main issue | Photo credits: Central Bank of Ireland
FRANKFURT, April 29 (Reuters) – The question of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) first rate hike in more than a decade is not the most important one, with the key issue being the pace of the rate hike. cost of credit thereafter, the institution’s chief economist, Philip Lane, said Friday.
“The important thing is not to ask the question ‘are we going to move away from -0.5 (percent) for the deposit rate?'” he told Bloomberg TV.
“The real issue, where we need to remain data dependent, is the extent and timing of interest rate normalization.”
Financial markets anticipate a first rate hike by the ECB in the second half.
(Report Francesco Canepa, French version Marc Angrand)