(Bloomberg) -- The European Central Bank will monitor geopolitical risks as it embarks on interest-rate cuts in June, Governing Council member Francois Villeroy de Galhau said. 

The French central banker repeated his view that the ECB is on track to begin loosening policy at its next meeting as the wave of inflation that washed over the euro area subsides.

Echoing recent comments fellow policymakers, however, he also flagged that the ECB will examine the potential impact on energy prices of an escalation in tensions in the Middle East after Iran’s strike on Israel. 

“Barring major shocks and surprises, we should decide a first rate cut early June, followed by others in a pragmatic and agile gradualism,” Villeroy said in a speech in New York. “And we’ll obviously monitor the possible consequences of the developments in the Middle East.”

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