ECB's Lagarde says 2022 rate hike unlikely, but leaves door open

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Central Bank remains very unlikely to hike interest rates next year, its president Christine Lagarde said on Thursday while not ruling out that borrowing costs could rise.

"Under the present circumstances... as I have said before, it is very unlikely that we will raise interest rates in the year 2022, that still stands," Lagarde told a post-policy meeting news conference.

"But we have to be very attentive to what data tells us. And we will do so at each and every monetary policy meeting and even more so when we get regular projections."

(Reporting by Francesco Canepa; writing by John Stonestreet; editing by Jonathan Oatis)