PARIS (Reuters) – The European Central Bank’s options are open at its next interest rate meeting, although rates are near their high point after signs that underlying inflation has peaked, ECB policymaker Francois Villeroy de Galhau said on Friday.
“Our options are open at this (governing) council as at the following meetings,” Villeroy, who is also governor of the French central bank, told journalists.
“We are close, very close to the peak in our interest rates, we are however still far from the point where we could consider cutting them.”
After the ECB hiked rates to a more than two-decade high, debate among rate-setters is heating up over whether to pause, especially in the face of growing signs of economic weakness.
(Reporting by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Alex Richardson)