Christine Lagarde Testifies Before European Parliament on Economic Outlook

Key Facts

1ECB President Christine Lagarde is appearing before the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament.

ECB President Christine Lagarde appeared before the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament on September 28, 2026. The ECB stated that this testimony is part of a regular hearing to report on the central bank's activities and economic projections. According to ECB staff projections, the economy is expected to grow by 0.9% in 2026, while headline inflation is seen averaging 3.0% during the same period.

Data presented during the testimony showed that headline inflation increased to 3.2% in August from 2.9% in July, driven by energy inflation rising to 14.3%. Regarding investment trends, firms are set to devote approximately 10% of total investment to artificial intelligence in 2026, with AI-related borrowing already accounting for roughly a quarter of credit growth to firms. Additionally, nominal wage growth slowed to 3.3% in the second quarter of 2026, down from 3.6% in the first quarter.