ECB must act on inflation sooner rather than later, policymaker Pereira says

LISBON: The European Central Bank must act on inflation sooner ​rather than later, ECB Governing ‌Council member Alvaro Santos Pereira told Portugal’s Antena 1 broadcaster on Saturday.

“Our ​concern right now is inflation; ​we need to look at the ⁠data very closely. But I ​also think, looking at what ​happened in the past, that we need to act sooner rather than later, to ​avoid a greater second-round impact,” ​said Pereira, who is also governor of ‌the ⁠Bank of Portugal.

“When there is an inflationary spiral, I prefer that we act swiftly and decisively.”

Asked ​whether that ​meant that ⁠he would support an interest rate hike at ​next month’s ECB meeting, he ​said: “We ⁠will have new ECB estimates and data from different countries, we ⁠will ​look at what ​is happening with prices and then we will ​make a decision.”