European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde held a monetary policy press conference.

Earlier that night, the European Central Bank announced its April interest rate decision. The European Central Bank kept interest rates unchanged for the fifth consecutive time as scheduled, but issued a clearer "rate cut" signal.

The European Central Bank hinted that it will cut interest rates, saying that most underlying inflation indicators are slowing, and if we believe that inflation will reach 2%, interest rates may fall, further relaxing its statement on interest rate cuts.

At the press conference, Lagarde reiterated the wording of the ECB statement, saying that if the fall in inflation persists, the path for interest rates will reflect it.

Regarding the time and path of interest rate cuts, Lagarde said that the direction of interest rate changes is quite clear, but there is no specific path and she will not wait until every item of inflation returns to 2%.

Lagarde said that more data will be available in June, and there will be the latest economic and inflation forecasts in June. The vast majority of members want to wait until June (before making a decision on whether to cut interest rates), which is in line with the market's generally expected interest rate cut. The time is consistent.

In terms of economic growth, Lagarde pointed out that growth risks are tilted downward. The economy remained weak in the first quarter and service industry spending was resilient, but the manufacturing industry faces weak demand. Surveys show that the economy will gradually recover this year, and export growth in the next few quarters should will speed up.

This is in line with the economic data released by the Eurozone this month. Manufacturing PMI data in March showed that Germany and France continued to shrink.

On the labor market front, Lagarde said labor market tightness continues to gradually decrease, with recent indicators pointing to a more moderate trend in wage growth.

Regarding inflation, Lagarde said that price pressures are gradually weakening and several members were confident today that inflation will fall to the target level next year.

However, she also warned that the decline in inflation will not follow a linear trend and will fluctuate at the current level in the next few months. The energy base effect will drive the cause of inflation fluctuations and pay close attention to changes in oil prices. In addition, service industry inflation remains at a high level.

When asked about the Fed cutting interest rates, Lagarde responded:

The United States and the euro area are not mirror images of each other. The nature of inflation in the euro area is different from that in the United States. Inflation in the United States and the euro area is driven by different factors. We are not dependent on the Fed and have to make decisions based on Eurozone data.

With the recent divergence of economic performance in Europe and the United States, the euro continues to weaken. Lagarde said that we do not target exchange rates and do not comment on exchange rate levels.