[ECB's De Marco: The European Central Bank Should Not Rush to Further Rate Hikes] Jin10 News, July 1 – ECB Governing Council member De Marco stated that given the unexpectedly rapid decline in oil prices, the European Central Bank should not rush to further rate hikes. The ECB raised rates in June, and its own forecasts were based on further tightening of policy. However, in the weeks since, energy costs have dropped sharply, strengthening the case for pausing rate hikes. De Marco noted that the decline in energy costs should quickly ease inflation expectations and curb demands for wage increases. This statement further reinforces the rationale for the ECB to keep rates unchanged this month, as several policymakers have already called for patience and a pause in further action. De Marco stated that only in the event of second-round inflation effects, unanchored inflation expectations, or heightened demands for wage increases would there be a reason to raise rates prematurely. 'We are not currently seeing these scenarios. Therefore, given that oil prices have now fallen back to levels around those before the conflict erupted, we can fully afford to wait for the next round of forecast results rather than hastily raising rates again, risking unnecessary harm to economic growth.' He also noted that it is worth mentioning that even in the more moderate scenarios of the latest forecasts, the assumption of further policy tightening is still included. Therefore, if future data validates this scenario, the ECB may still need to raise rates further.