Lagarde raises the New Year flag: The European Central Bank will achieve its 2% inflation target by 2025.

European Central Bank President Lagarde has stated that the 2% inflation target is within reach. On Wednesday, in a video posted on X, she said, "In 2024, we made significant progress in reducing inflation, and we hope that 2025 will be a year when we achieve our strategic objectives as expected and planned. Of course, we will continue to work hard to ensure that inflation remains sustainably stable at the mid-term target of 2%." Consumer price growth in the eurozone slowed last year and was below the European Central Bank's target in September, but inflation has risen again in recent months. Lagarde warned that inflation will fluctuate around the current levels in the short term. Despite this, the economic slowdown has allowed policymakers to cut interest rates by 25 basis points four times, with economists predicting four more rate cuts by June. Lagarde described the ECB's 2025 plan as a "hectic agenda," emphasizing the review of the central bank's monetary policy strategy, the digital euro, and the redesign of eurozone banknotes, although the latter project is not expected to be completed this year.