Meanwhile in Europe

While yesterday’s 4% CPI print for February in the US was slightly above consensus and shows some stickiness in inflation numbers, the picture is different in Europe. ECB Governing Council member Francois Villeroy de Galhau is quoted in an article for Le Figaro over last weekend. “Since our Governing Council meeting last week, there’s a very broad agreement to cut rates in the spring, bearing in mind that spring lasts until June 21,”. Bank of France has lowered its 2024 projection for core CPI to 2.4% from 2.8%. We maintain our belief that central banks arrive to the end of their rate hiking cycle, but may decrease interest rates at a slower pace than many had hoped for.