Lagarde was speaking over the weekend on Dutch television.
“We are going to follow the path of stopping net asset purchases,” she said. “Then, sometime after that — which could be a few weeks — hike interest rates.”
That "few weeks' is being read as the July ECB meeting. The European Central Bank next meet June 9. The July meeting is on the 21st.
Lagarde is not looking at +50bps. Via Bloomberg (gated) report:
- Netherlands’ Klaas Knot ... floated a 50 basis-point move at the ECB’s July meeting, though only if data worsen.
- Asked about a possible increase of that size, Lagarde said “it’s not something that I can tell you at this point in time,” stressing that she shares “the same direction of travel” with Knot but also that economic growth mustn’t be risked.
- “We need to make sure that this is going gradually enough so that we don’t put the break on this car that is moving,” she said. “We have to lift the accelerator for sure to slow inflation but we cannot be breaking any speed.”
