MNI BRIEF: ECB's Holzmann Sees No Rate Cut Guarantee In 2024

Discussions of ECB easing are premature and there are no guarantees interest rates will fall from current levels in 2024, Austrian central bank head Robert Holzmann said Thursday.

In a statement published on the OENB website, Holzmann said "monetary policy normalisation is already having an effect on the decline in inflation, but it would be premature to think about rate cuts just yet". His views run against those of Portugal's Mario Centeno, who spoke to MNI just before Christmas. (MNI INTERVIEW: ECB Could Discuss Cut Timing In Jan-Centeno)

Holzmann added that the coming year will again be challenging, but inflation will continue to fall, with the euro area "probably" reaching the ECB's 2.0% inflation target within the next two years. Inflation is also expected to fall in Austria, although not as quickly as in the rest of the euro area, he said.