Interest rate cuts this spring 'regardless of what ECB says'

Leading mortgage broker Michael Dowling says rate cuts next year will bring relief for many Irish households and businesses

President of the European Central Bank Christine Lagarde: 'Should we lower our guard? We ask ourselves that question. No we should absolutely not lower our guard.'

The European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde unveiled new lower inflation forecasts, but continued to push back against financial markets that are betting the ECB will start cutting interest rates as early as March, and then be forced to announce further major reductions by the end of 2024.   

Speaking after a gathering of ECB central bankers in Frankfurt, Ms Lagarde said the central bank was set to bring eurozone inflation back under control by 2025, but only if rates at their current levels were "maintained for a sufficiently long duration".