The ECB is on track to raise rates next week
The ECB still seems likely to raise rates by 25bp next week given above-target core inflation and ongoing upside risks to inflation.
President Lagarde said after the July ECB policy meeting that, “some governors … asked … whether we should not consider a hike [today]”, with the Governing Council “unanimously decid[ing] that we … be very attentive in the next few weeks to the development of the [Middle East] situation and to the [key inflation, GDP and survey] data that we will be receiving … [because] we will make our decision in September”.
With GDP in line with ECB forecasts, historically low unemployment matching the estimated NAIRU, ongoing upside risks from the Iran war, and persistently above-target core inflation, it still seems likely that the ECB will resume raising rates at the 9-10 September policy meeting, with policy rules pointing to two rate rises this year to take the policy rate from 2¼% to 2¾%.
On the latest inflation numbers, the euro area core CPI rose by 0.2% for the third month in a row in July on CCI's seasonal adjustment. Annual inflation has edged up from a low of 2.2% in January and has held steady at 2.4% over the past few months. Inflation to date has been close to the ECB’s central case, which forecasts inflation will peak at about 2.7% by early next year.
Euro area services inflation unexpectedly eased in July, while goods inflation has picked up recently. Some of the relative strength in goods prices likely reflects ongoing supply-side pressure from the Iran war, as well as upward pressure from strongly-rising world tech prices.
- Core services prices barely grew in July, up 0.1%, which was the smallest increase since May last year. Annual inflation is still well above the 2% target, but eased to 3.1%, the best result since April.
- Core goods prices – which historically increase at a glacial pace in the euro area – are rising at about 0.1% per month, almost rounding up to 0.2% in July. Goods prices are up 1.1% over the past year, which is the fastest ex-COVID growth since 2012.
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