ECB must learn to manage persistent uncertainty, Nagel says

MADRID, May 13 (Reuters) - Uncertainty is the new normal for central banking given U.S. policy volatility but the European Central Bank still looks set to get inflation back to its coveted 2% target, Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel said on Wednesday.

The ECB has missed its target for more than a decade now, first undershooting it despite massive stimulus schemes aimed at boosting prices, then overshooting it in the post-pandemic inflation surge.

"There's a good probability that we are coming close to our target of 2%," Nagel told a lecture in Madrid.

Inflation held steady at 2.2% last month and some policymakers even see it dipping below 2% in the coming months as a strong euro, lower energy costs and weak economic growth are all a drag on prices.

Nagel, however, stopped short of advocating any policy response, even as some of his colleagues are explicitly discussing further policy easing, the ECB's seventh rate cut in 13 months, while others are advocating steady policy.

He said that even if trade tensions ease, policy volatility could persist and the ECB must set policy accepting this.

"I believe that this uncertainty... is the new normal," Nagel said. "And we have to more or less deal with this. We have to do what we can to manage this uncertainty."