(Bloomberg) -- The European Central Bank looks to its own economic outlook rather than what investors anticipate when it sets monetary policy, according to Governing Council member Pablo Hernandez de Cos.

The Spanish central bank chief expressed confidence that inflation is heading back to the 2% target but said officials will continue to be guided by data. While traders are leaning toward a cut in interest rates in April, most ECB policymakers seem to favor a move in June at the earliest. 

“We’re not here to confirm the expectations of the market,” De Cos said Tuesday in Nicosia. “We follow our own assessment.” 

Addressing the same event, there were similar sentiments from De Cos’s Cypriot counterpart, Constantinos Herodotou. 

“You can’t know from now or announce from now when the interest-rates cuts will start,” he said. “We need to see data.”

--With assistance from Sotiris Nikas.

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