FRANKFURT—The European Central Bank should raise interest rates soon and has room for up to three hikes this year, ECB policymaker Martins Kazaks told Reuters, joining a chorus of policymakers calling for a swift exit from stimulus.
The ECB has been rolling back support at a glacial pace for months but a surge in inflation to nearly four times the ECB’s 2 percent target is intensifying calls to finally end a nearly decade-long foray into ultra-easy monetary policy.
“A rate rise in July is possible and reasonable,” Kazaks, who is Latvia’s central bank governor, said in an interview. “Markets are pricing two or three 25 basis point steps by the end of the year. I have no reason to object to this, it’s quite a reasonable view to take.”
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