Finance
ECB's next move may be a hike, but not anytime soon, Schnabel tells Bloomberg News
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on December 8, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on December 8, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
ECB's next move could be a rate hike, but not soon, says Schnabel. Economic recovery and fiscal policy may drive inflation higher.
FRANKFURT, Dec 8 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank's next move may be an interest rate hike, rather than a cut as some still expect, but it will not happen in the near future, ECB board member Isabel Schnabel told Bloomberg News in an interview published on Monday.
The ECB has cut rates by a combined 2 percentage points in the year to June, but it has since kept them on hold and has been contemplating whether it has done enough or if more may be needed to prevent inflation from going too low.
"Both markets and survey participants expect that the next rate move is going to be a hike, albeit not anytime soon,” Schnabel was quoted as saying. "I’m rather comfortable with those expectations."
She argued that risks to growth and inflation are skewed towards higher readings than forecast by the ECB, in part because the economy weathered U.S. tariffs better than projected.
Schnabel also noted that the decline in underlying inflation has stalled at a time when the economy is recovering and fiscal policy is expanding, creating conditions for price growth to accelerate.
(Reporting by Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Jamie Freed)
Monetary policy refers to the actions taken by a central bank to manage the money supply and interest rates to achieve macroeconomic goals such as controlling inflation, consumption, growth, and liquidity.
Interest rates are the cost of borrowing money or the return on savings, expressed as a percentage of the principal amount. They are influenced by central bank policies and market conditions.
The European Central Bank (ECB) is the central bank for the euro and is responsible for monetary policy within the Eurozone, aiming to maintain price stability and oversee the banking system.
Inflation is the rate at which the general level of prices for goods and services rises, eroding purchasing power. It is typically measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
Financial markets are platforms where buyers and sellers engage in the trade of assets such as stocks, bonds, currencies, and derivatives, facilitating the flow of capital and liquidity in the economy.
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