Economists recently polled by Reuters anticipate that the ECB could keep its asset purchase program unchanged at the upcoming meeting on June 10, but could look into tapering initiatives in the coming months before the end of the year. The Eurozone economy has started recovering after its recent reopening and the outlook is positive as the COVID-19 vaccine rollout picks up speed.

However, with prices already rising on account of global supply chain disruptions driving up the costs for raw materials and energy costs increasing, markets and experts are pressing the central bank to consider tapering some of its monetary stimulus measures soon. Although, despite increasing calls to act on inflationary pressures, several ECB policymakers have shot down the possibility of such a decision being undertaken as soon as the next meeting.

Almost 90% of the respondents expect the PEPP initiative to continue and for the central bank to maintain its plans for asset purchases worth 1.85 trillion euros. Meanwhile, over 57% of economists expect the ECB to begin tapering its asset purchase program by later this year.

Economists who participated in the poll expect Eurozone’s inflation to surge to an average of 1.8% for this year. Inflation is forecast to rise by 1.8% QoQ in Q2, followed by an average increase of 2.1% QoQ and 2.4% QoQ in Q3 and Q4 respectively.