ECB must be cautious on rates amid Iran war uncertainty, says de Guindos in World Economy News 21/04/2026 The European Central Bank must exercise caution when setting interest rates due to significant uncertainty surrounding the war in Iran, ECB Vice-President Luis de Guindos said on Tuesday. The ECB is scheduled to meet next week, and policymakers, including President Christine Lagarde on Monday, have indicated they lack sufficient evidence to raise rates to combat an energy-driven increase in inflation. De Guindos called for caution and said the ECB should focus on whether higher oil and gas prices are raising other prices. “I believe we need to be cautious, keep a cool head and analyse the data in a context of tremendous uncertainty,” de Guindos told an event in Spain. He said that energy prices currently fall between the ECB’s baseline projections, which anticipate only a temporary rise in inflation, and an adverse scenario with larger and more lasting spillovers. De Guindos also warned about three sources of risk to financial stability in the euro zone: high market valuations, loose fiscal policy in some countries, and trouble in private credit. He is scheduled to present the last Financial Stability Review of his mandate as an ECB board member on May 27, before stepping down at the end of that month. Source: Investing.com 2026-04-21 hellenicshippingnews... window.___gcfg = {lang: 'en-US'}; (function(w, d, s) { function go(){ var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], load = function(url, id) { if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.src = url; js.id = id; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }; load('//connect.facebook.net/en/all.js#xfbml=1', 'fbjssdk'); load('https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js', 'gplus1js'); load('//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js', 'tweetjs'); } if (w.addEventListener) { w.addEventListener("load", go, false); } else if (w.attachEvent) { w.attachEvent("onload",go); } }(window, document, 'script')); tweet Share