EU member states should phase out support measures intended to compensate for high energy prices. In this way, national governments can combat high inflation, says policymaker François Villeroy de Galhau of the European Central Bank (ECB).
The measures are intended to support vulnerable households with high energy bills. Villeroy de Galhau, who is also governor of the French central bank, believes that it is not only the ECB that has the task of tackling inflation.
According to the Frenchman, there is also a responsibility with the national governments. “This means that fiscal policy must be adjusted by abolishing energy subsidies, as the European Commission has already recommended.”
The ECB has previously announced that it is doing everything it can to reduce inflation in the eurozone to 2 percent. This must be done, among other things, through interest rate increases.
Inflation in the eurozone was 7 percent in April, according to figures from the European statistics agency Eurostat. In March, everyday life for consumers was still 6.9 percent more expensive than twelve months previously.
