(Bloomberg) -- The European Central Bank remains confident that inflation is easing enough for a June interest-rate cut and shouldn’t over-interpret data on wages, Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau said.

Figures published earlier on Thursday showed euro-area wages failed to slow at the start of 2024, adding a note of caution to expectations that price increases are definitively retreating.

Speaking at the VivaTech conference in Paris, Villeroy said there was a “German exception” due to one-offs, while wages decelerated significantly in other countries.

“We should not over-interpret, we keep confident in the disinflationary process,” Villeroy said.

The ECB is widely expected to begin lowering interest rates in two weeks for the first time since a barrage of hikes to contain runaway inflation. While consumer-price gains have slowed significantly, policymakers say a return to the 2% target hinges on the interplay between wages, corporate profits and productivity.

“As we have increased confidence on the inflation front, we are very probably, barring a surprise, going to have a first rate cut in our next Governing Council meeting,” Villeroy said.

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