ECB Vice President Luis de Guindos delivered a keynote speech (link) at King's College today on the inflation outlook and monetary policy in the euro area.  He concluded his speech by stating that "a succession of unprecedented shocks over the past three years has pushed inflation far above target in the euro area and around much of the world. The ECB’s Governing Council has responded by increasing interest rates substantially and has so far raised the policy rates by 400 basis points since July last year – the fastest tightening on record. But our job is not yet done. Services inflation, and labour costs in particular, need to be closely monitored, as they are now an important driver of overall inflation. As the shocks reverse and the effects of ECB past rate increases are gradually transmitted across the real economy, inflation is projected to decline further towards the our target. Nevertheless, the inflation outlook is surrounded by significant uncertainty, and the ECB will continue to follow a data-dependent approach to determining the appropriate level and duration of restriction."

The Vice President also visited the ECB London Office located within the EU Delegation to the UK and met with EU Ambassador to the UK. They discussed the economic challenges facing the euro area.