European Central Bank minutes: Discussion on a "mildly restrictive" policy, but unanimous agreement to keep interest rates unchanged

(1) The European Central Bank meeting minutes show that officials discussed whether it was necessary to adopt a "mildly restrictive" monetary policy to ensure inflation falls back to the 2% target level. (2) The minutes indicate that some officials initially supported an interest rate hike last month, but given the high uncertainty surrounding the persistence of inflation, all members ultimately agreed to keep policy rates unchanged. (3) Currently, the inflation rate in the eurozone is hovering around 3%, well above the 2% target, while economic growth is also stronger than expected.