Interview with Luis de Guindos, Vice-President of the ECB, conducted by Gonçalo Almeida on 13 September

20 September 2024

Two years ago when the ECB started raising interest rates, you told Expresso that you didn’t know how high they could go. Did you at any point think they would reach the level they have?

Talking about the past is always much easier than talking about the future. Two years ago inflation was very high. We have to remember that it was in the region of 10%. At its peak, we had to tighten our monetary policy quite a lot. But now I think good news has started to emerge as inflation, which is currently slightly above the 2% mark, falls. We have already cut rates twice, by 25 basis points each time, and I think that the main message we now want to convey is that inflation is getting closer to our 2% target and we expect it to reach the target at the end of 2025.

The markets are now predicting that there will be a cut at each ECB meeting between now and the end of the…