(Bloomberg) --
The European Central Bank aims to reach a consensus on the future of its inflation goal in the first half of this year, according to Governing Council member Peter Kazimir.
“Various academic possibilities are on offer,” the governor of the Slovak central bank told reporters in Bratislava on Wednesday. “We have great ambition to reach agreement by the end of June.”
The question of whether to change the ECB's inflation goal of “below, but close to 2%” is core to the institution's first strategic review since 2003, after years of falling short despite massive monetary stimulus. While Kazimir didn't say whether the results of that assessment will be announced as soon as the middle of the year, his comments raise the prospect of a decision earlier than many analysts expect.
President Christine Lagarde has said results of the review -- which will also extend into topics such as climate change, financial stability and inequality -- could be announced around December. An ECB spokesman declined immediately to comment on Kazimir's remarks.
Suggestions so far include setting the goal for consumer-price growth specifically at 2%, possibly with a tolerance band around it. At least one policy maker support reducing the target to reflect the downward pressure on prices from economic trends such as globalization.
Kazimir also said the ECB should revisit the issue of housing costs' weight in the official measure of inflation, echoing comments from colleagues including Executive Board member Yves Mersch.
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To contact the reporters on this story: Piotr Skolimowski in Frankfurt at pskolimowski@bloomberg.net;Radoslav Tomek in Bratislava at rtomek@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Gordon at pgordon6@bloomberg.net
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