ECB’s Lagarde: Inflation way too high, we have to take action

The European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said on Thursday that inflation is way too high, ”we have to take action,” adding that the ECB will do whatever is needed and will use all instruments including balance sheet reduction. 

We ”must deliver on price mandate, ‘no matter what’,” she said.

Earlier, she was quoted saying, “we have to be attentive to potential spillovers” and, “we are not alike and we cannot progress either at the same pace (or) under the same diagnosis of our economies.”

“But we are also influenced by the consequences, particularly through the financial markets, and to a lesser extent, through trade as well, because clearly the exchange rate matters and has to be taken into account in our inflation projections,” Lagarde said.

EURUSD update

As for the Euro, the currency has been whipsawed by US fundamentals this week on what has been a volatile spell in the forex space. EURUSD is pressured in the New York session on Thursday, currently being forced to test a critical 0.9750 area on the lower time frame charts, losing some 0.6% on the day so far within a 0.9730 / 0.9839 range.