- Austrian central bank chief Robert Holzmann, one of the most hawkish members of the European Central Bank, told CNBC future monetary policy decisions should wait for political decisions to be made on tariffs.
- “With countermeasures in Europe, prices may have increased. Without countermeasures, quite likely the price pressure is downward. And for the time being, we don’t know yet the direction,” he said.
- The ECB’s Governing Council voted unanimously to cut by a quarter percentage point at its April meeting, its seventh reduction in the current cycle.
Austrian central bank chief Robert Holzmann on Thursday said euro zone interest rates should be held until more clarity emerges on the path of U.S. tariffs and European Union countermeasures.
“We have not seen this uncertainty now for years… unless the uncertainty subsides, by the right decisions, we will have to hold back a number of our decisions, and hence, we don’t know yet in what direction monetary policy should be best moved,” Holzmann told CNBC’s Carolin Roth in an interview at the IMF World Bank Spring Meetings.
Holzmann is widely viewed as one of the most hawkish voting members of the European Central Bank, in favor of a slow approach to easing monetary policy as inflation declines. The ECB’s Governing Council voted unanimously to cut by a quarter percentage point at its April meeting, its seventh reduction in the current cycle, but Holzmann confirmed he took the decision with caution and had seen a need to wait for more data.
He told CNBC that there was a “broad consensus” around lowering rates, but some disagreement at the margins.
“My assessment is that at this time, it wasn’t clear yet to what extent [tariff] countermeasures were being taken. Because with countermeasures in Europe, prices may have increased. Without countermeasures, quite likely the price pressure is downward. And for the time being, we don’t know yet the direction,” he said.
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/24/ecbs-holzmann-says-rate-cuts-must-wait-for-more-tariff-certainty.html