"In attendance were many prominent central bankers and academics - from ECB President Christine Lagarde to former central bank chief economist Otmar Issing, who has long urged the ECB to tighten monetary policy. On average this year, the ECB now expects inflation in the eurozone to reach 5.1 percent, Lagarde pointed out. In a more pessimistic scenario, however, the central bank's economists also already considered 7.1 percent inflation possible as an annual average in 2022", the FAZ wrote on the conference.
FAZ: "Lagarde: 7 Prozent Inflation sind möglich"
In the long run, a change in inflation dynamics is to be expected, the "Handelsblatt" highlighted in its reporting. "It is unlikely that we will return to the same inflation dynamics we experienced before the pandemic," she said Thursday in her speech at the annual conference "The ECB and its watchers" in Frankfurt. For that reason, she said, the European Central Bank (ECB) has decided to reduce its bond purchases more quickly than originally planned."
Handelsblatt: "EZB-Chefin Lagarde sieht dauerhaft veränderte Inflationsdynamik"
That the times of low inflation as before the Corona pandemic are over is also stated in the "Börsen-Zeitung". "ECB President Lagarde now said Thursday at the ECB Watchers Conference in Frankfurt that the central bank is increasingly confident that the phenomenon of too low inflation as before the Corona pandemic will not return. It is increasingly likely that inflation will approach the ECB's inflation target of 2.0% in the medium term, he said. That is why the ECB is initiating the normalization of monetary policy. But the Ukraine war poses a challenge in that regard, he said: "We have to deal with a shock that pushes inflation beyond our target in the short term and reduces growth."
Börsen-Zeitung: "Debatte über EZB-Zins nimmt Fahrt auf"
Börsen-Zeitung: "Vorstoß für Preiskontrollen löst Widerspruch aus"
A radio feature on "The ECB and Its Watchers" in Deutschlandfunk
Vor Beginn der Konferenz vertrat Prof. Volker Wieland in einem Interview mit CNBC die Ansicht, dass die EZB noch mehr hinter der Kurve liege als die Fed. Bereits im Januar sei die EZB von der Inflation überrascht worden, so Wieland. "Sie müssen sich ziemlich bald bewegen, aber sie scheinen sich dessen bewusst zu sein", sagte Wieland mit Blick auf die aktuelle Situation im Euroraum.