ECB’s Nagel: Central bank will react if Iran war pushes up inflation

European Central Bank (ECB) Governing Council member and Germany's Bundesbank chief Joachim Nagel told Reuters on Wednesday that the central bank will be ready to act if surging energy costs due to the Iran war feed into durably higher Eurozone inflation.

Key quotes

We must be very vigilant.

If it becomes apparent that the current energy price increases will translate into broad consumer price inflation in the medium term, the Governing Council of the ECB will act decisively in a timely manner.

The discussions about falling short of our inflation target are likely to be over for the time being.

At this point in time, however, it is still too early to reliably assess the medium- to long-term consequences given the volatile situation.