Pablo Hernández de Cos: The inflationary episode in the euro area and the European Central Bank's monetary policy normalisation process

Speech by Mr Pablo Hernández de Cos, Governor of the Bank of Spain, at the Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB) 20th Anniversary, "20 years identifying problems and finding solutions", Barcelona, 31 May 2022.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

Good afternoon. Let me begin by thanking the organisers of this event, l'Institut d'Economia de Barcelona, for their kind invitation.

Unfortunately, the war in Ukraine and the suffering of the Ukrainian people are dragging on. The economic implications of the conflict are very uncertain but they will probably be far reaching. We are already bearing some of the more immediate consequences, such as an intensification of the high inflation episode and a weaker post-pandemic economic recovery.

Against this backdrop, I will devote my address to the current inflationary episode and the ECB's monetary policy response.