ECB will have to raise rates again on May 4: Chief economist

Lane said that wage growth, now above 5% and feeding inflation according to some, will slow later this year

The ECB building in Frankfurt. credit: Reuters File Photo

The European Central Bank will need to raise interest rates again at its forthcoming meeting next week but the size of the move is still open to debate, its chief economist told French paper Le Monde in an interview published on Tuesday.

"For our next Governing Council meeting on 4 May, the current data are indicating that we should raise rates again... Beyond that, I don’t have a crystal ball; it will depend on the economic data", Philip Lane said in the interview.

Lane added that wage growth, now above 5 per cent and feeding inflation according to some, will slow later this year.