LUXEMBOURG (MNI) – Whether the European Central Bank lowers
borrowing costs next month or thereafter hinges on circumstances
including economic developments in the Eurozone, ECB Governing Council
member Luc Coene said Thursday.
Coene, who heads the Belgian National Bank, told journalists on the
margins of a speaking engagement that it is very hard to make a
meaningful statement about prospects for a rate cut down the line.
Asked whether ECB President Mario Draghi had meant to create
expectations of a rate cut next month by saying today that the Council
had discussed it but decided the time was not yet right, Coene replied,
“That’s one possible interpretation but there are others as well.”
“That will depend on how the circumstances will develop, how the
economy will develop. So it’s very hard to say now something meaningful
about that,” he said.
“We are forward looking, but not too far, because we have to digest
data” and the “reality” of the situation, he added.
“You know we never precommit to anything, as you know,” he
observed.
–Frankfurt bureau tel: +49-69-720-142. Email: frankfurt@mni-news.com
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