(Bloomberg) -- The European Central Bank needs to keep rates at their current level to ensure wage growth slows down and new risks for inflation don’t arise, Governing Council member Martins Kazaks said. 

“In my view, it is too early to declare victory over inflation and therefore its not the time to cut interest rates,” Kazaks said in a blog post on Tuesday. “Inflation is not yet at the target and the process of lowering the rate of inflation is unlikely to be smooth and flat.”

He also pointed out that while headline inflation slowed faster than expected, the core number that strips out volatile components remained high in November. If that remains the case, “overall consumer price inflation will climb again,” he said. 

 

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