ECB will continue 50bp hikes for 'a period of time'
The European Central Bank will continue hiking interest rates by 50 basis points per meeting for "a period of time", President Christine Lagarde said.
At her press conference following the ECB's rate announcement on Thursday, Lagarde explained that the ECB was "in for a long game".
In response to a journalist's questions, she also indicated that there was a "very broad" majority on the governing council who agreed the ECB needed to show perseverance.
"We will sustain the course, not enough to hit and withdraw," Lagarde went on to say.
As an aside, the ECB's new staff projections were calling for a small rise in core consumer prices across the euro area in 2023, from 3.9% during the year before to 4.2%.
However, in 2024 core CPI was seen retreating to 2.8% and to 2.4% in 2025.
Linked to the above, Lagarde also stressed in another response that the downshift to 50bp moves was not a so-called pivot.
Indeed, the ECB had more ground to cover than the Federal Reserve, she said.
Lagarde appeared at pains to explain that the ECB was ready to go further.
At one point during the presser, the ECB chief said that based on current data another 50bp hike was likely at the next policy meeting, possibly followed by another such move at the subsequent meeting and possibly yet another after that.
"I don't know how many more times," she went on to say.