ECB's Visco says July ‘perhaps’ right time for first hike

ECB officials have grown increasingly alarmed about record inflation, with consensus building to start raising borrowing costs in July.

The European Central Bank might be ready to increase interest rates for the first time in more than a decade in July, Governing Council member Ignazio Visco said. Picture: Alex Kraus

The European Central Bank might be ready to increase interest rates for the first time in more than a decade in July, Governing Council member Ignazio Visco said.

“We can move gradually, raising interest rates in the coming months,” Visco said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Friday. While June is too early as that is when the ECB will end net bond purchases, “we will move after that -- after that, means perhaps July.”