ECB Accounts: September meeting seen as good time to re-evaluate level of policy restriction

The accounts of the European Central Bank's (ECB) July policy meeting showed on Thursday that the September meeting was widely seen as a good time to re-evaluate the level of monetary policy restriction, per Reuters.

Key takeaways

"Headline inflation was expected to fluctuate around current levels for the rest of the year."

"The signals from the different measures of underlying inflation remained mixed."

"It was therefore becoming harder to determine whether or not the slower decline signalled a genuine stalling of the disinflation process."

"Labour cost dynamics would continue to be a key concern."

"It was comforting to see that domestic cost pressures from high wage growth, including in the services sector, had been increasingly buffered by unit profits."

"Monetary policy transmission was unfolding according to expectations."

"Monetary policy would probably take longer to be transmitted to the services sector."

"It was seen as natural that the Governing Council’s policy response should be cautious."

"By the time of the September meeting, extensive new data would be available."

Market reaction

This publication failed to trigger a noticeable market reaction. At the time of press, EUR/USD was trading at 1.1133, losing 0.15% on the day.