off-the-wire

ECB's Lagarde: Q4 wage data encouraging but not enough

Kitco Media
By Reuters
Published:
Updated:
Reuters

Ghent, Belgium, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Relatively benign fourth quarter wage growth data are encouraging but not yet enough to give the European Central Bank confidence that inflation has been defeated, ECB president Christine Lagarde said on Friday.

"The Q4 wage numbers are obviously encouraging numbers," Lagarde told a news conference. "The Governing Council needs to be more confident that the disinflationary process that we are observing will be sustainable and will take us to the 2% medium term target."

Negotiated wage data from the first quarter, due out in May, will be especially important for the ECB, Lagarde added.

Reporting by Francesco Canepa; writing by Balazs Koranyi; editing by Andrew Cawthorne

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.