ECB should wait until Dec with next rate cut, Kazimir says

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The European Central Bank should almost certainly wait until December before cutting interest rates again to be certain it is not making a policy mistake in easing too quickly, ECB Governing Council member Peter Kazimir said on Monday.

“We will almost surely need to wait until December for a clearer picture before making our next move,” Kazimir said in a blog post.

“I would require a significant shift, a powerful signal, concerning the outlook to consider backing another cut in October,” Kazimir, Slovakia’s central bank chief, said. “But the fact is that very little new information is in the pipeline.”

Kazimir, an outspoken hawk, argued that the ECB needed to be sure that incoming data confirmed its projections, otherwise policymakers might regret rushing to cut borrowing costs before inflation has been sustainably defeated.

The ECB cut rates for the second time this year last Thursday and said it expected inflation to come back to its 2% target on a durable basis by the end of 2025.