June 23 (Reuters) – Damage from the conflict in the Middle East cannot be removed overnight and the European Central Bank still has work to do, ECB policymaker Peter Kazimir said on Tuesday.
The ECB raised interest rates this month to prevent higher energy prices from pushing up longer-term inflation expectations and financial markets see at least one more move later this year, even as energy prices have fallen well below recent highs.
“I think the direction is clear and I think we still have work to do,” he said at a Slovak central bank news conference.
“We have created a very good position with the June rate hike decision to be able to react when it is necessary.”
Asked about developments in peace talks between the United States and Iran, he said that in principle nothing had changed for him.
Kazimir said it would be important to watch upcoming data, including June inflation data, and to look for any signs of secondary effects that are not in the data at the moment but can be sensed.
(Reporting by Jan Lopatka and Jason Hovet in Prague; Editing by Aidan Lewis)
