Francois Villeroy de Galhau, governor of the Bank of France, saiddeuceswildvideopokerstrategyThe European Central Bank still believes that inflation has eased enough to cut interest rates in June, and that wage data should not be over-interpreted.
Data released early on Thursday showed a key measure of eurozone wages failed to slow at the beginning of the year, a warning sign for ECB officials who are counting on a slowdown to keep inflation down.
Villeroy said at the VivaTech conference in Paris that due to one-time factors,"Germany is an exception" and itsdeuceswildvideopokerstrategyIn his country, wage growth slowed significantly.
"We should not over-interpret, and we remain confident in the process of falling inflation," Villeroy said.
The European Central Bank is widely expected to cut interest rates for the first time in June after a series of interest rate hikes to curb inflation. Although consumer price increases have slowed sharply, policymakers say whether inflation can return to the 2 percent target depends on the interplay between wages, corporate profits and productivity.
"As our confidence in inflation grows, barring any surprises, we are likely to cut interest rates for the first time at the next Governing Council meeting," Villeroy said.