ECB Insight: Lagarde Unmistakably Hawkish; ‘It Would Surprise Me’ if Inflation Already at Its Peak

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on Monday showed herself from her hawkish side, making it considerably less clear whether the Governing Council would really temper its pace of rate hiking as soon as next month, but also raising the question of how bold forthcoming quantitative tightening decisions will turn out. Notwithstanding the relatively neutral tone of the prepared remarks she had just delivered at European Parliament, Lagarde said during the ensuing Q&A that ‘[h]eadline inflation, the one that we look at most, has hit its highest reading in October … core inflation as well has been very