Interview with Luis de Guindos, Vice-President of the ECB, conducted by Mário Blaščák

5 February 2025

The ECB lowered its interest rates by 25 basis points last week. How low can rates go given the current inflation and growth outlook?

We have been very clear that we are not following any predetermined path and will decide meeting by meeting, based on the incoming economic data. This is because the level of uncertainty is huge. Now that we see inflation approaching our 2% target, we have been reducing the restriction of our monetary policy. How much lower rates will go depends on the data confirming that inflation is converging towards our target in a sustainable manner. We are confident that this will happen this year, but there are still a number of uncertainties, particularly surrounding the geopolitical situation, that we need to take into account. So, even if our current trajectory under the current circumstances is clear, nobody knows the level at which interest rates will…