France’s Villeroy: We will bring back French inflation to around 2% by 2024

PARIS (Reuters) – The head of the Bank of France on Wednesday pledged to bring price pressure in the euro zone’s second-biggest economy back in line with the ECB’s inflation target of around 2% by 2024.

“We will do what it takes to bring back inflation to around 2%, this is the number one concern of the French”, Francois Villeroy de Galhau told France 5 television, adding that he shared the 2024 aim for France with European Central Bank head Christine Lagarde.

The ECB has firmed up expectations that it will raise its benchmark interest rate in July for the first time in more than a decade to fight record-high inflation, with some policymakers even hinting on Wednesday at further hikes after the first.

(Reporting by Tassilo Hummel)