Italy's foreign minister calls for bolder ECB interest rate cuts

FILE PHOTO: Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani attends a meeting with G7 foreign ministers·Reuters
Reuters
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ROME (Reuters) - The European Central Bank should increase the size of its interest rate cuts to stave off recession risks for the euro zone, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Thursday.

The ECB cut the deposit rate for the first time since 2019 in June, lowering it by 25 basis points to 3.75%, and could lower it again in September.

Speaking from a Roman Catholic business and politics conference in the Adriatic town of Rimini, Tajani said he hoped the next cut could be bolder.

"(Reductions) by 25 basis points are not enough, we need (reductions) by 50 basis points," Tajani, who is also deputy prime minister, told the SkyTG24 news channel.

Italy's central bank governor Fabio Panetta, who takes part in ECB rate decisions, said on Thursday it was "reasonable" to expect further monetary easing from the Frankfurt-based bank.

(Reporting by Alvise Armellini, editing by Jonathan Oatis)