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Eurozone inflation hike not as temporary as expected, says ECB’s De Guindos – Metro US

Eurozone inflation hike not as temporary as expected, says ECB’s De Guindos

FILE PHOTO: Christmas shoppers wear masks and fill Cologne’s main
FILE PHOTO: Christmas shoppers wear masks and fill Cologne’s main shopping street Hohe Strasse (High Street) during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Cologne

MADRID (Reuters) – Rising inflation in the Eurozone will not be as temporary as initially expected, European Central Bank vice president Luis de Guindos said on Monday.

“Our inflation is more persistent and, let’s say, not as temporary as we expected,” De Guindos said in an interview with radio station COPE.

The ECB expects the inflation rate to remain above 3% into 2022 and fall below the long term target of 2% at the end of the year.

Though the bank’s forecasts are subject to great uncertainties, such as the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic, de Guindos said.

De Guindos, who had tested positive for the coronavirus on Dec. 11, said he has overcome the infection and the last test he took two days ago gave a negative result.

(Reporting by Inti Landauro; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall and Grant McCool)