Interest Statement by Visco, Member of the European Central Bank (ECB)

European Central Bank (ECB) Board member Ignazio Visco stated that the bank may be “ready” to raise interest rates in July.

After the statements, Ignazio Visco, who is the Chairman of the Central Bank of Italy and one of the pigeon names of the Governing Council, said in his interview that they expect an interest rate hike in the coming months and that the increases will be gradual.

Adding that June will be too early to finish the asset purchase program, Visco said, “We will act after the program is over. This may be July.”

While ECB experts are sounding the alarm about the inflation reaching record levels, they do not stop giving strong signals about a rate hike in July. While ECB member Klaas Knot noted that 50 basis points increase would be on the table if inflation worsened, Martins Kazaks, Member of the Governing Council, underlined that the bank could raise interest rates for the first time in July due to inflation risks.

About the deposit rate, which has been in the negative region since 2014, Visco said, “I think we can get out of the negative area now. With a gradual increase in interest rates, it will mean that we increase without causing any movement in the market.”

The bank is priced in the money markets to raise interest rates by 34 basis points until July and by 4 quarter points until the end of the year. Last month, annual inflation in the eurozone reached an all-time high of 7.4 percent.