PARIS (Reuters) -The normalisation of interest rates in the euro zone is probably not complete, European Central Bank (ECB) policymaker Francois Villeroy de Galhau said on Tuesday.
“This normalisation is probably not complete, and we are likely to see this at our governing council next week,” Villeroy – who is also head of the Bank of France – said in a speech.
The ECB’s governing council, which sets monetary policy for the euro area, is scheduled to meet on June 5, with financial markets expecting that it would lower its key deposit facility rate to 2.00% from 2.25%.
Such a move would mark the ECB’s eighth rate cut in a row, reflecting concerns about subdued economic activity and the taming of inflation.
“The French inflation figure for May, published just this morning at the low level of 0.6%, is yet another very encouraging sign of disinflation in action,” Villeroy said.
(Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain;Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta, William Maclean)
