Lagarde: 'In December we will understand whether we will have to raise rates further'

ECB President Christine Lagarde, leaving early to be able to "express herself more freely", does not rule out anything on the subject of rates. In December, in what will most likely be the last council it will chair on the topic, the European Central Bank will evaluate whether to adjust the cost of money. He stated this in front of an audience of over 600 students invited to Piazza Affari by the Observatory for Independent Thinking as part of the 'Young Factor' project on financial education.

"In the last monetary policy meeting - he explains - we discussed whether to raise rates again, but we felt we were well positioned to wait and see what numbers, data and information will arrive". "We will review our projections in December - he clarifies - when we will have many indicators that will really help us determine whether an increase is necessary to achieve our objective".

Lagarde recalls that inflation at 4% in the euro area and above 5% in Italy is mainly fueled by energy, with increases on an annual basis of 18% and over 20% respectively.

"Since energy enters into many of the things we do - he argues - it has pushed all prices upwards. This situation will probably continue for a certain period, until a base effect emerges in the annual comparison. I say probably underlining it a lot - he specifies - because things change extremely quickly".

A dynamic, that of prices linked to energy, which is even more valid for Italy: "it's like the engine of a car - he explains - you have to open the bonnet and see why the figure is so high".

"Mainly - he underlines - it is the fault of energy, the price of which in Italy has increased by 20%". Lagarde invites young people to develop "critical and free thinking" and reminds them that the basis of their decision to leave early is precisely the desire to be able to "express themselves freely".

"In the current circumstances - he underlines - in Europe and elsewhere I want to be able to express with greater independence opinions in which I firmly believe and participate in debates that do not concern monetary policy". "I would have finished in October anyway - he clarifies - because this is the rule: as president of the ECB you have an 8-year mandate and in the end there is no renewal, it doesn't extend: you leave, and that's it and what I did was bring forward that inevitable exit by 9 months".