Case for quick ECB rate cuts mounts as growth weakens and inflation is tamed
Combines sources, Villeroy, Müller, ECB surveys
ECB survey sees quicker inflation decline
ECB policymakers see falling rates
Euro zone firms report weak growth
By Balazs Koranyi and Francesco Canepa
FRANKFURT, Oct 18 (Reuters) -Euro zone inflation could ease more quickly than previously thought and economic growth is also likely to remain weak, ECB policymakers and fresh surveys said on Friday, reinforcing the case for a rapid pace of interest rate cuts in the months ahead.
The ECB lowered interest rates for the third time this year on Thursday on moderating price pressures. Investors now see rate cuts at each of the central bank's next four or five meetings as inflation is within striking distance of its 2% target and the bloc flirts with recession.
Sources close to the ECB's deliberations said that inflation could ease to 2% a few quarters sooner than earlier thought. This prompted some rate setters to make the case on Thursday for dropping a pledge to keep policy tight, the sources said, an implicit signal that more rate cuts are coming.
Speaking in blog post on Friday, Estonian central bank Governor Madis Müller also argued that the outlook had changed markedly in since the ECB's last projections in September.
"Economic growth will be more modest than could have been expected just a month or two ago, and this will probably also reduce the pressure for price increases," Müller said.
This view was reinforced by the ECB's own Survey of Professional Forecasters, which showed inflation getting back to 2% much more quickly than ECB staff now expect.
It predicted price growth at 1.9% next year, below the 2% predicted three months ago and well below the 2.3% the ECB had pencilled for the year as a whole.
The ECB only sees inflation at 2% in the final quarter of 2025 but the survey suggests this could happen much quicker especially since underlying price growth will also slow.
Many economists have revisedtheir own forecasts since inflation eased to 1.7% last month, its lowest rate in over 3 years and weak energy prices along with anaemic growth foreshadow muted price pressures ahead.
"We see inflation heading back up to 1.9% in October and crossing 2% again in December,” HSBC said in a note. “It should then hover between 1.6% and 1.8% for most of first half of 2025."
'CLEAR DIRECTION' ON RATES
Part of the reason why policymakers and financial investors see rapid rate cuts is that economic growth continues to falter.
Indeed, a separate ECB survey of leading firms recorded a further slowdown in business momentum, even if they still saw some modest growth ahead as the expansion in services offsets a manufacturing recession.
The souring mood among the 95 large non-financial firms surveyed reflected growing concerns about competitiveness, uncertainty about the green transition, high costs and worries over political developments.
"This was causing businesses to scale back investment and focus on cost cutting, which also weighed on consumer confidence," the ECB said, based on a survey of 95 large firms in late September.
All this adds up to a further moderation in price growth, the firms said, possibly bolstering the case for the ECB to cut interest rates quickly.
The ECB has spent the past three years fighting the worst bout of inflation in over a generation but some policymakers now think there is a realistic risk the bank could return to undershooting its 2% target.
"The (policy) direction is to my eyes clear - we should continue to cut our restrictive monetary policy in an appropriate way," French central bank chief Francois Villeroy de Galhau said on Friday. "But the pace must be guided by agile pragmatism."
Reporting by Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Toby Chopra
免责声明: XM Group仅提供在线交易平台的执行服务和访问权限，并允许个人查看和/或使用网站或网站所提供的内容，但无意进行任何更改或扩展，也不会更改或扩展其服务和访问权限。所有访问和使用权限，将受下列条款与条例约束：(i) 条款与条例；(ii) 风险提示；以及(iii) 完整免责声明。请注意，网站所提供的所有讯息，仅限一般资讯用途。此外，XM所有在线交易平台的内容并不构成，也不能被用于任何未经授权的金融市场交易邀约和/或邀请。金融市场交易对于您的投资资本含有重大风险。
所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。
本网站上由XM和第三方供应商所提供的所有内容，包括意见、新闻、研究、分析、价格、其他资讯和第三方网站链接，皆保持不变，并作为一般市场评论所提供，而非投资性建议。所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为适用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。请确保您已阅读并完全理解，XM非独立投资研究提示和风险提示相关资讯，更多详情请点击 这里。
