Lagarde speech: Weak wage growth, FX appreciation to keep price pressures subdued

Christine Lagarde, President of the Europen Central Bank (ECB), is delivering her remarks on the monetary policy outlook in a press conference following the ECB’s decision to leave the policy settings unchanged in July.

Key takeaways

“We expect economic activity to return to pre-crisis level by the first quarter of the next year.”

“We expect inflation to rise further in the coming months.”

“Inflation rise is driven by higher energy prices, the base effect.”

“By early 2022, the impact of temporary factors on inflation should fade out.”

“Weak wage growth, FX appreciation to keep price pressures subdued.”

About ECB President Lagarde

The European Central Bank’s President Christine Lagarde, born in 1956 in France, has formerly served as Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, and minister of finance in France. She began her eight-year term at the helm of the ECB in November 2019. As part of her job in the Governing Council, Lagarde holds press conferences in detailing how the ECB observes the current and future state of the European economy. Her comments may positively or negatively the euro’s trend in the short-term. Usually, a hawkish outlook boosts the euro (bullish), while a dovish one weighs on the common currency (bearish).