ECB følger trop. Nu skal inflationen bekæmpes, også for at bevare tilliden til den europæiske centralbank. Det stod klart i lørdags, dagen efter at den amerikanske centralbankchef, Jerome Powell, satte kampen mod inflationen øverst på dagsordenen. Det var det indflydelsesrige medlem af ECB-bestyrelsen, Isabel Schnabel, som sagde, at ECB må reagere kraftfuldt for at bekæmpe inflationen. Sandsynligheden for en fortsat høj inflation er blevet ubehagelig høj i folks bevidsthed, sagde hun på den amerikanske centralbanks symposium. Af hensyn til dette, må “centralbankerne reagere kraftfuldt,” sagde hun. Hvis det ikke sker, er der risiko for, at centralbankerne mister befolkningens tillid. Hun erkendte, at centralbankerne i halvandet år undervurderede inflationspresset. Hvis centralbankerne reagerer for sent, kan “omkostningerne blive betydelige,” sagde hun. Schnabel er det medlem af toppen i ECB, som mest aktivt har advaret mod de seneste måneders fejlvurderinger af prisudviklingen.
ECB needs to act forcefully against inflation to maintain trust, Schnabel says
The European Central Bank needs to act forcefully to combat inflation and preserve the public’s trust, which now appears to be waning, ECB board member Isabel Schnabel said on Saturday.
“Both the likelihood and the cost of current high inflation becoming entrenched in expectations are uncomfortably high,” she told the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole Economic Symposium. “In this environment, central banks need to act forcefully.”
She argued that the risk is rising that longer-term inflation expectations move above the bank’s target, or “de-anchor,” and surveys now suggest that inflation is denting public trust in central banks.
“If a central bank underestimates the persistence of inflation – as most of us have done over the past one-and-a-half years – and if it is slow to adapt its policies as a result, the costs may be substantial,” she said.
