ECB Meeting Minutes: Officials Discussed “Moderately Restrictive” Policy

According to a summary of the meeting minutes, European Central Bank officials discussed whether to adopt a "moderately restrictive" monetary policy to ensure that inflation returns to the 2% target. The minutes revealed that some officials would have supported an interest rate hike last month. However, the minutes noted that, given the high uncertainty regarding the persistence of inflation, "all members were willing to support the decision to keep policy rates unchanged." Currently, inflation in the euro area is hovering around 3%, well above the ECB's 2% target, while economic growth has exceeded expectations.