Lagarde rejects tighter monetary policy

Despite rapidly rising prices, ECB President Christine Lagarde has rejected calls for a tighter monetary policy. At a hearing in the European Parliament on Monday, she admitted that the strong surge in inflation is likely to last longer than initially thought. But she said no departure from the policy of cheap money was indicated at present: „If we were to introduce tightening measures now, it would do much more harm than good,“ she said. Even suggesting tightening in the short term would hurt the euro area economy. The latter is on the mend, she said and could surpass its pre-crisis level toward the end of the year.