The latest euro zone inflation figures are "comforting" — but oil prices still pose a risk that could push the European Central Bank into another rate hike, Belgium's central bank governor said Thursday.
"It is one of the factors that, you know, could push inflation higher ... inflation would be higher in a way that we will not meet our target in [2025], then I think would have to do more," Pierre Wunsch told CNBC's Joumanna Bercetche, referring to a persistent shock in the price of oil.
"If inflation would be higher than our forecast, no more than marginally, then I think we have to do more," he also said.
When asked whether this marked a change in approach for the ECB, many members of which in 2021 described inflation driven by energy markets as transitory, Wunsch said: "I think it's just our reading of the impact of a succession of shocks has changed."
The last 23 years of observing and modeling inflation had led policymakers to believe "sustained inflation was becoming close to impossible," Wunsch said in an interview at the International Monetary Fund's annual meetings in Marrakech, Morocco.
Persons:
Pierre Wunsch, CNBC's Joumanna, Wunsch
Organizations:
European Central Bank, ECB, International Monetary
Locations:
Marrakech, Morocco