ECB’s Lagarde: rate cut not on the agenda

SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELLA (Reuters) – An interest rate cut is not on the European Central Bank’s agenda, ECB President Christine Lagarde said on Friday, pushing back on some market bets that a reversal of rate hikes could start in the first half of 2024.

“We have not decided, discussed or even pronounced cuts,” Lagarde told a news conference on Friday. “Duration is duration.”

(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski; writing by Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Toby Chopra)