President Lagarde summed this up concisely on 10 March following the ECB (European Central Bank) Governing Council’s monetary policy meeting by saying “maximum optionalities in the face of maximum uncertainty”. This has also shaped the ECB (European Central Bank) Governing Council’s decisions.
We firmly reiterate that we continue to expect the key ECB interest rates to remain at present or lower levels for an extended period of time. This expectation is based on an overall subdued outlook for inflation extending into the medium term, given the broad-based weakness of the economy, the high degree of unutilised capacity, and subdued money and credit creation.