ECB's Zigman: Interest rate hike could come as early as the next meeting.

October 30 - ECB's Zigman stated that the European Central Bank may decide to raise interest rates as early as the next policy meeting, and believes that gradual tightening of monetary policy is appropriate. Zigman pointed out that the energy shock has lasted longer than expected, and the euro area has now entered the adverse scenario in the ECB's latest projections.

Continuous rises in energy prices have increased the risk of further increases in inflation while weakening the economic growth outlook. Rising bond yields and falling stock prices reflect further tightening of financial conditions.

Against this backdrop, the ECB's gradual interest rate hike strategy is the right direction and helps preserve room for subsequent policy decisions. Zigman emphasized that the ECB remains committed to stabilizing the medium-term inflation rate at 2% and will make interest rate decisions based on future data, inflation expectations, and the risk environment.

He also pointed out that the prolonged conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine may bring downside risks to economic growth. The Croatian central bank expects the country's economic growth this year to be about 2.5%, roughly three times the average growth rate of the rest of the euro area. (Jinshi)