Interview with Luis de Guindos, Vice-President of the ECB, conducted by Dietmar Mascher and Alexander Zens

23 May 2024

The next meeting of the ECB’s Governing Council is on 6 June. A reduction in interest rates is expected, as announced by some Governing Council members. So is the cut in rates a certainty? By 0.25 or 0.50 percentage points?

We have been very transparent about the decision at the June meeting. And we are taking a prudent approach, which would argue in favour of a reduction of 25 basis points.

How many rate cuts can we expect by the end of 2024, where will interest rates be next year?

There is a huge degree of uncertainty. We have made no decisions on the number of interest rate cuts or on their size. We will see how economic data evolve.

Is it possible that interest rates will be increased again in the coming months?

That is not our base scenario. It depends on how inflation develops. We believe that it will fluctuate in the short term and will sustainably converge…