ECB’s Holzmann says up to three rate hikes this year could be ‘appropriate’ – POLITICO

The European Central Bank may have to raise interest rates up to three times this year to combat higher inflation, ECB Governing Council member Robert Holzmann said in an interview with the Austrian newspaper Salzburger Nachrichten.

woodman called such rate hikes would still leave lending rates well below historical averages.

Central bankers around the world are struggling to contain inflation rates that have skyrocketed due to the war in Ukraine and the global pandemic.

“I think it’s appropriate to take at least two or even three steps,” said Holzmann, referring to the rate hike. “These could be smaller, about 0.25 percentage points each. If that happened by December, it would mean that bank deposit rates, which are now minus 0.5 percent, would be in positive territory by 2023,” said Holzmann, who is also head of Austria’s central bank.

Analysts believe the ECB may start raising interest rates in July as inflation in the euro zone is currently around 7.5 percent.