Visco: “No alarm on the rate hike. If Italy reforms, it can handle the consequences of the squeeze”

“The alarms that are sometimes raised about the effects that further increases in official rates could have on our economy cannot be shared: our country is able, by continuing along the path already taken of prudent policies and reforms, to manage the consequences of a gradual but necessary monetary restriction”. The governor of the Bank of Italy speaks in front of the Ambrosetti club and tows the warnings of those who, in recent days, have raised their sights against the European Central Bank (ECB). According to Ignazio Visco “the action of monetary policy can only continue in the direction undertaken”, that of a further tightening. Even if, he says, normalization must proceed “with the necessary gradualness, taking into account that medium-long term inflation expectations are anchored and there are no signs of spirals between prices and wages, although the expected acceleration of these latter should be closely monitored”.