Lagarde speech: Conflict is weighing on activity

Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank (ECB), explains the ECB's decision to raise key rates by 25 basis points at the June policy meeting and responds to questions from the press.

Key takeaways

"Conflict is weighing on activity."

"Labour demand has cooled further."

"Domestic demand weaker than projected in March."

"Households in solid financial position."

"Wage trackers continue to indicate easing labour costs in 2026."

"Some indicators of underlying inflation have been driven higher by energy shock."

"Most measures of longer-term expectations stand at around 2%."

"Increase in energy prices will lift inflation further, above 2% in the first half of 2027."