Philip Lane, chief economist at the European Central Bank, is cautiously optimistic about inflation in the euro area, saying that the slowdown in inflation indicators for goods and services is reassuring and that underlying inflationary pressures will continue weakened.

He noted that “overall euro area inflation, at 5.3%, remains high. In terms of looking for signs of momentum and changes in direction, I would highlight the fact that there has been some easing in goods and services inflation, which is a welcome trend.”

Ryan also reminded in an interview that the impact of previous interest rate hikes will be reflected in the economy.

Pause or continue?

Next Thursday (September 14), the European Central Bank will announce its latest interest rate decision. Before doing so, central bankers must assess whether a slew of recent economic indicators is enough to pause a year-long policy tightening cycle.

Ryan did not specify whether he would prefer to pause or continue raising rates in the rate decision. In addition, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde (Christine Lagarde) did not give a clear view in her speech on Monday.

But Ryan’s comments in the interview suggest that the chief economist still leans toward a dovish stance. He said the challenge of controlling consumer price growth was not as daunting as it once was, stressing that basic indicators excluding energy and other unstable factors proved that there was progress in curbing inflation.

“We do expect this well-known rate of core inflation to start to come down through the fall,” he said.

Data released by Eurostat last week showed that the preliminary value of the Eurozone Harmonized Consumer Price Index (HICP) in August increased by 5.3% year-on-year, which was consistent with the final value in July. It failed to slow down to 5.1% as the market expected; HICP The chain rose 0.6%, higher than the market’s previous expectations of 0.4%.

The core inflation rate excluding energy, food, tobacco and alcohol rose by 5.3% year-on-year, in line with expectations, and was the lowest level since February this year.

The August consumer price report for the euro zone is the last data to be factored in before the ECB’s September meeting to make a policy decision.

ECB officials said they hoped to limit consumer price increases to 2% “in time”.

Ryan said, “This is fast enough, and everyone understands that the current inflation is time-limited and temporary, so you should not change your long-term behavior based on the idea that inflation will remain high… We hope that people Understand, this is a temporary inflation.