Frankfurt (Reuters) – The European Central Bank (ECB) is not in a hurry to reduce the cost of loans again and it would take a significant and unexpected economic change to justify such a measure in September, Peter Kazimir, a member of the Council of Governors of the Institution on Monday, said on Monday.

After eight borrowing costs since June 2024, the ECB has maintained its unchanged rates last week, as expected, and its moderately optimistic evaluation of the euro area economy prompted investors to reduce their bets on a new softening of monetary policy in September.

“Regarding the data to come, I do not expect that something important would happen that would force me to act in September,” wrote Peter Kazimir in a blog post, adding that it would take something like clear signs of crumbling of the labor market to justify a recovery of the rate reductions at the start of the school year.

These comments align with those of ECB sources according to which the bar for a new reduction in September is raised after the bank has already lowered the rates to 2% since June 2024.

The trade agreement concluded on Sunday between the European Union (EU) and the United States reduces uncertainty for businesses, but its impact on prices, the main objective of the ECB, is not yet clear.

“This trade agreement can help appease concerns and restore confidence,” said Peter Kazimir. “We now have more clarity, but we will need time to see to what extent this new environment will affect inflation,” he added.

He also said that he did not see any risk that inflation will now be lower than the 2% target of the ECB, as was the case during the decade preceding the Cavid-19 pandemic.

(Written by Balazs Koranyi, Diana Mandia, edited by Blandine Hénault)

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