
Bank of Italy Governor Fabio Panetta said Monday that the arrival of US tariffs means that the European Central Bank will have to be very careful about making further interest-rate cuts.
“Monetary policy decisions will have to balance two factors”, Panetta said in his report on the bank’s 2024 budget.
“On the one hand, the weakness of the European economy and geopolitical tensions are dampening consumption and investment, helping to contain inflation”.
“On the other hand, increased uncertainty - mainly due to the sometimes contradictory announcements on US trade policies - calls for caution in the path of lowering official rates”.