(Bloomberg) -- Stubborn underlying US inflation and stronger economic growth may mean that an interest-rate cut there will arrive after one in the euro zone, according to Jean-Claude Trichet.

The former European Central Bank President, speaking on Bloomberg Television on Wednesday just before the Federal Reserve’s final decision of the year, doubted that officials in Washington can be so sure that consumer prices are fully tamed. 

“In the US for many reasons we still have a level of core inflation, for instance, that is now significantly superior,” Trichet said. “It’s not absurd to think that the first decrease of rates could be in Europe instead of in the US.” 

Investors have piled on bets on prospective easing before a series of central-bank announcements this week. The Fed meeting is on the eve of decisions by officials in the UK and euro zone, all of whom are under pressure to pivot toward rate cuts too. 

For Trichet, such expectations are unrealistic, not least the possibility that the ECB will reduce borrowing costs as soon as March, as some traders are waging. Toward the end of the first half is more reasonable, he said. 

“Markets expect the decrease of rates to come as soon as possible,” he said. “The market is in a way talking its own book.” 

In any case, Trichet reckons the Fed has reasons to wait longer. The US economy is still “roaring” and fiscal expansion is greater there, he observed. Most significant is underlying inflation — stripping out volatile measures such as energy — which Fed officials still need to see slowing further. 

“It is core that is signaling whether or not we will continue to slow down and arrive at the definition of price stability of around 2%,” he said. “It might be a little more difficult in the US than in Europe.”

--With assistance from Guy Johnson and Alix Steel.

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