ECB's Villeroy: ECB is independent of the Fed, can be pragmatic on rate policy

Governor of the Bank of France and ex officio member of the European Central Bank (ECB) François Villeroy de Galhau noted on Tuesday that the ECB's pragmatism about rate cuts is not dependent on Federal Reserve (Fed) policy.

Governor Villeroy's comments come after the Bank of France upped its growth forecast for France to 0.2% for the first quarter, up slightly from the previous forecast of 0.1-0.2% for Q1.

Key highlights

ECB rate cuts are independent of the Fed's policy.

The ECB can be free and pragmatic on the pace of rate cuts.

The ECB is broadly in agreement about delivering rate cuts in the spring.