The ECB is “not dependent on the Fed,” says Christine Lagarde

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said in Washington on Tuesday that the ECB “dependent on data, but not the Fed» (US Federal Reserve), especially regarding the timing of interest rate cuts. Asked on the CNBC channel on the sidelines of her visit to the IMF spring meetings, Ms Lagarde dismissed the issue of a difference that could emerge between the ECB’s and the Fed’s monetary policies. The Eurozone central bank could in fact cut its interest rates relative to the US Federal Reserve, reflecting more persistent inflation in the United States.

“We are data dependent. We had a few in March and a little in April. It is on this basis that we must make our decisions and not on the basis of any central bank in the world, even if that is the Fed.», the ECB boss confirmed while there is talk of a first interest rate cut in the eurozone in June. Without committing herself to this date, Mrs Lagarde reiterated that in the eurozone “a process of disinflation“.”We must have confidence in this process, but if it continues in the expected direction and we do not experience a major shock, we will be heading for the moment when we will have to moderate restrictive monetary policy.“, she said.

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“Consumer behavior”

Eurozone inflation fell to 2.4% in one year, while in the United States it started to accelerate again to 3.5% according to the CPI index, seemingly postponing a start until a later decline in inflation US interest rates. However, the ECB president warned that the path to sustainable 2% inflation “bumpy“. Asked about the reasons that explain the current inflation gap between the United States and Europe, Ms. Lagarde emphasized: “consumer behavior“.

“The big difference is the attitude of the consumer: European consumers are very cautious and continue to save heavily“, the manager underlined. “Why that ? This is due to fiscal policy, the energy sector, but also the fact that American consumers tend to be more confident, spend less and save less“, she said.