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ECB chief economist Peter Praet speaking in Sole stood by the ECB's pledge to keep interest rates low well past the end of its bond purchase programme. The exact meaning and length of "well past" would be decided by the Governing Council in "due course", he said.
Praet also emphasised how the ECB's forward guidance had served it well, leading to appropriate financial conditions. Paret noted that wage evolutions may reveal that there is more slack in the euro area labor markets than unemployment rates show. He emphasized slow wage growth and said the ECB would have to be "patient".
Praet's remarks follow his peers' over the past week, with Austrian central bank chief Ewald Nowotny going on record on 17 March saying the ECB had yet to decide whether to raise rates before or after the end of its QE programme.
Regarding Itay, Praet took on euro-hostile movements, saying they were misleading people and hiding the fact that reverting to the old currency would involve huge costs for the population at large. He noted that return to the lira would not solve Italy’s problems.
