European Central Bank must act on inflation sooner rather than later, policymaker Alvaro Santos Pereira says

The European Central Bank must act on inflation sooner rather than later, ECB Governing Council member Alvaro Santos Pereira told Portugal's Antena ‌1 broadcaster ⁠on ⁠Saturday.

"Our concern right now is ​inflation; we need to look at the data ​very closely. But I also think, looking at what ​happened in the past, ⁠that we ‌need to act ​sooner ​rather than later, ⁠to avoid a greater second-round impact," said ​Pereira, who is also governor ​of the Bank of Portugal.

"When there is an inflationary spiral, I prefer that we act swiftly and decisively."


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Asked ‌whether that meant that he would support an ​interest rate ​hike at ⁠next month's ECB meeting, he said: "We will have new ECB estimates and ​data from different countries, we will look at what is happening with prices and then we will make a decision."

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