European Central Bank Committee: Continuing to gradually reduce interest rates is the basic situation.

European Central Bank (ECB) Governing Council member and Governor of the Latvian Central Bank, Martins Kazaks, stated that the ECB should continue to gradually lower interest rates. He said, "The current basic situation - in my view, the most appropriate - is to continue lowering interest rates step by step." "The trend of interest rates is downward, but of course, this depends on what happens in the economy." Since June, the ECB has already lowered interest rates three times, and it is expected to do so again at the last policy meeting of the year in December. Prior to Martins Kazaks making these comments, Olli Rehn, another member of the ECB Governing Council and Governor of the Bank of Finland, said that monetary policy could be further eased next month. Meanwhile, the outcome of Trump winning the presidential election has cast a shadow over the Eurozone economy, as Trump promised during his campaign to implement policies imposing tariffs on foreign goods. Martins Kazaks stated, "Tariffs are not beneficial for Europe, as we are an economy oriented towards exports and foreign trade." "What does this most likely mean for us? Inflation rates may be higher, prices may rise due to tariffs, and the economy may weaken as it becomes more difficult for us to export." However, he emphasized that it is still unclear what will actually happen, and Europe needs to avoid escalating any trade wars.