Two or three rate hikes this year appropriate

ZURICH (Reuters) – The European Central Bank should hike interest rates as many as three times this year to combat inflation, hawkish policymaker Robert Holzmann told the Salzburger Nachrichten paper in an interview.

“I think it would be appropriate to take at least two or even three steps. These could be smaller ones, ie 0.25 percentage points each. If this were to happen by December, it would have the effect that by 2023 the deposit rates for banks , which are now minus 0.5 percent, would be in positive territory, “the Austrian central bank governor was quoted as saying.

“You’ll still be quite a bit away from the natural nominal interest rate. So there’s still a long way to go. But it would be a good signal to the public.”