ECB’s Makhlouf Says Upside Risks to Inflation Have Intensified

European Central Bank Governing Council member Gabriel Makhlouf said yesterday’s initial assessment of the euro-area economy’s health, combined with weaker consumer and business confidence, suggests “near-term headwinds” to growth.

“While the incoming information has been broadly consistent with our previous assessment of the inflation outlook, the upside risks to inflation and the downside risks to growth have intensified,” the governor of the Central Bank of Ireland said in a blog post Friday.