ECB’s Lagarde cements expectations for upcoming rate hike

The European Central Bank is likely to end its bond-buying stimulus programme early in the third quarter of this year, followed by a rate hike that could come just “a few weeks” later, ECB President Christine Lagarde said on Wednesday.

“My expectation is that they (bond purchases) should be concluded early in the third quarter,” Lagarde said at a conference in the Slovenian capital.

“The first rate hike, informed by the ECB’s forward guidance on the interest rates, will take place some time after the end of net asset purchases…(and) this could mean a period of only a few weeks.”
Source: Reuters (Reporting By Balazs Koranyi; Writing by Francesco Canepa in Frankfurt)