Yannis Stournaras, a member of the European Central Bank (ECB) Governing Council, has signaled the possibility of an interest rate freeze in July, Bloomberg reported on July 1 (local time).

Stournaras, who also serves as the Governor of the Bank of Greece, described the report showing consumer inflation cooling to 2.8% as a "significant downside surprise" during an interview in Sintra, Portugal, on that day.

"Unless something dramatic happens, there will be no changes in July," he added. "It would be better to stay at the current level for the time being."

In response to inflation concerns stemming from the Middle East, the ECB raised its three key policy rates by 0.25 percentage points last month.

This marked the first interest rate hike by the ECB in two years and nine months, since September 2023.

According to Stournaras, central bank governors in the Gulf region have projected that damage to energy infrastructure is not significant and that Iran will return to the market with a substantial supply of oil.

This analysis differs significantly from previous forecasts, which suggested that even if the conflict in the Middle East were to end quickly, it would take a long time for crude oil and natural gas prices to decline.

However, Stournaras warned that caution is still needed regarding the indirect effects of price shocks seen over the past few months.

He pointed out that in Europe, while rising oil prices are immediately passed on to consumers, price reductions do not occur as quickly when oil prices fall.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)