Joachim Nagel: ''We May Experience Recession Due to Energy Crisis''
Deutsche Bundesbank President and European Central Bank Board Member Joachim Nagel stated that Germany will face recession if the energy crisis increases. Nagel emphasized that further interest rate hikes should not be made.
Joachim Nagel, President of Deutsche Bundesbank and member of the Board of Governors of the European Central Bank, said,
"Given the high inflation, further interest rate hikes should follow. The past few months have shown that we need to decide on monetary policy from meeting to meeting."
The European Central Bank (ECB) decided to raise interest rates by 50 basis points last month. It also said it planned to raise borrowing costs again. Subsequent data revealed that inflation was 9 percent, more than four times the central bank's target.
Nagel, who will attend next week's Federal Reserve Economic Policy Symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, said:
"It will be very important to keep medium-term inflation expectations stable at 2 percent. I believe the ECB Governing Council will take the necessary monetary policy measures.
If the energy crisis worsens, a recession seems likely next winter. The German economy still performed quite well under difficult conditions in the first half of the year. However, if further delivery problems are added, for example due to prolonged low water levels, the economic prospects for the second half will worsen."