ECB’s Christine Lagarde shifts focus to digital euro rollout after holding rates

Core Insights - The European Central Bank (ECB) has completed technical and preparatory work on the digital euro, now awaiting action from political institutions [1] - ECB President Christine Lagarde emphasized a meeting-by-meeting approach to interest rate decisions, based on economic data and inflation outlook [2] - Inflation is projected to return to the ECB's target of 2% by 2028, with revised projections showing an average of 2.1% in 2025 [3] Digital Euro Development - The digital euro aims to provide a stable public digital payment method, with urgency for EU institutions to adopt the necessary regulations [4] - Initial expectations for the digital euro launch were set for the second half of 2026, aligning with other euro-backed stablecoin initiatives [5] - The ECB has updated its timeline, planning for potential issuance by 2029, contingent on regulatory adoption by 2026, with preparatory steps starting as early as mid-2027 [6]