The European Central Bank’s decision to halt interest rate increases at its October meeting is fully justified by a slowdown in inflation, Governing Council member Francois Villeroy de Galhau said.
The pace of price increases has declined considerably and an underlying measure clearly passed a peak in the spring after the ECB began tightening last year, the Bank of France governor said.
“It’s the proof of the effectiveness of monetary policy, which fully justifies the halting of the sequence of rate hikes decided by the Governing Council,” he said in a speech on banking supervision in Paris on Friday.
He said the ECB can now be confident in getting inflation back toward 2% by 2025, though he added that the central bank will also be patient, holding rates at the current level “for a time proportionate to their full transmission.”
Addressing the situation of French financial institutions, Villeroy said the rise in interest rates has on the whole been beneficial for banks and insurers.
