Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Nadia Calvino said she’d welcome an immediate end to European Central Bank rate hikes.
“The increase in interest rates have been very fast and that explains the slowdown of the European economy,” Calvino, who also is her country’s economy minister, said in an interview with Onda Cero radio. “I think it would be good news if the ECB ends now or closes this phase of rate increases.”
The ECB’s unprecedented hiking campaign has seen it increase rates by 425 basis points since July 2022. That’s led some government officials — primarily in Italy — to caution that more tightening would add to the dangers for euro-area growth. Calvino has previously said that additional rate hikes aren’t required to quell inflation in the region’s fourth-biggest economy.
Policymakers are now debating whether to continue with a 10th consecutive hike or to pause next week. ECB President Christine Lagarde has avoided giving an indication of her preference for the Sept. 14 meeting.
