BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - The European Central Bank do not have to wait until inflation reaches the target of 'below, but close to 2 percent' to normalize policy and now there are good arguments for slowing asset purchases, ECB Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny said in an interview published in an Austrian daily on Thursday.
'We do not have to wait until the inflation rate reaches 1.9 percent,' Nowotny, who heads the Austrian central bank, said in an interview to the newspaper Der Standard.
'We can normalize the policy earlier.'
Official figures released this week showed that Eurozone inflation was 1.5 percent in September, same as in August. Core inflation eased marginally to 1.1 percent from 1.2 percent.
Nowotny said the ongoing asset purchases of EUR 60 billion a month, which will expire in December, cannot be stopped abruptly. However, it is time to start thinking about how to normalize them and decision will be taken this month as to how to proceed further.
'There are good arguments for slowing purchases,' he said.
The ECB is set to announce its latest policy decision on October 26. Economists widely expect the bank to extend its asset purchases till September 2018, but at a reduced size.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX