European Central Bank Vice President: The 1.15 exchange rate between Europe and the United States is not a major obstacle to the inflation target.

On June 16, Jin10 reported that European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos stated: “The current appreciation of the euro is not rapid, and the fluctuations are not extreme. When the euro to dollar exchange rate is at the level of 1.15, it does not pose a ‘significant obstacle’ for the central bank to achieve its inflation target. The inflation risks we currently face are balanced, and the risk of the inflation rate being below the target is very limited, as it is now very close to the target. The market also fully understands the information transmission after the policy decision; in the medium term, tariffs will simultaneously drop economic growth and inflation levels. We are fully confident that the Federal Reserve will maintain the currency swap limits, and the issue of repatriating gold reserves from New York has not even been discussed.” It is quite rare for ECB officials to specifically comment on exchange rate levels, so de Guindos’s remarks today can be considered “bold,” while other comments are more commonplace.