Christine Lagarde wants to take the fruit of a permanently high inflation from the Germans.

In an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (FAS), the President of the European Central Bank (ECB) said: “This is noticeable at the moment and worries many people - but we do not expect this rise in inflation to last.

This will calm down again next year.

We expect inflation rates to start falling as early as January. ”In Germany, an inflation rate of just under six percent is expected for November.

Gerald Braunberger

Editor.

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Dennis Kremer

Editor in the "Money & More" section of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

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Christian Siedenbiedel

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At the same time, the President assured that the ECB would act if it was necessary: ​​“If we recognize that inflation will reach our target of 2 percent in the medium term, permanently and sustainably, not just for a short time, then they too can Interest rates rise again.

Like our entire monetary policy, such an interest rate hike must serve to fulfill our mandate of price stability.

If so, nobody will be happier than me to normalize monetary policy. "

At the moment, however, Lagarde considers the discussion about higher interest rates to be inappropriate. "If we tightened monetary policy now, we would probably have an effect in 18 months," she told the FAS. "That is how long the delay is until our monetary policy measures take effect. By then, however, according to our forecasts, inflation would have fallen again a long time ago. We would cause unemployment and high adjustment costs, and yet we would not have combated the current high inflation. "

Regarding the possible exit from the emergency program Pepp, with which the ECB can flexibly buy bonds, the ECB President said: “Under the current circumstances, I assume that we will not make any further net bond purchases under Pepp from spring onwards.

That does not mean that Pepp ends completely, because we have to replace expiring bonds again.

These reinvestments must continue.

And let's not forget that we have other buying programs in our toolkit. ”Bond purchases have proven their efficiency, but their impact can wear off over time.

Lagarde told the FAS that the positive effects of the bond purchases far exceeded the negative side effects

The full interview with ECB President Lagarde can be found on November 26th.

from 8 p.m. on www.faz.net