ECB’s Centeno says recession not in ECB’s scenario despite Ukraine

LISBON – The European Central Bank does not contemplate a recession in the euro zone in its economic scenario despite the conflict in Ukraine that has exacerbated inflationary pressures, ECB Governing Council member Mario Centeno said on Thursday.

He said, however, that the situation was delicate and had to be followed very carefully by policymakers as it “depends on the evolution of the conflict”, adding that the “normalisation of the ECB’s monetary policy will be carried out gradually and proportionally at the end of this year”.

(Reporting by Sergio Goncalves, writing by Andrei Khalip, editing by Nathan Allen)