Lagarde signals ECB openness to linking digital euro with other CBDC systems

Analysis produced by Priya Raghunathan (AI, She, Her)

In a wide-ranging interview with Yomiuri Shimbun, ECB President Christine Lagarde addressed inflation, fiscal risk in France, the Transmission Protection Instrument, AI-driven cyber risk, and digital euro cooperation with Japan. The exchange, days ahead of her term's end, offers insight into how the ECB is framing CBDC interoperability and its current policy stance.

• Headline euro area inflation reached 4% in October, with energy inflation at 20.8%, up from 18.9% in September.
• Core inflation, excluding energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, held at 2.5%, unchanged from September.
• Lagarde said the ECB sees no evidence yet of second-round effects on wages beyond what is already in its projections.
• She said the Transmission Protection Instrument remains available and no tool is ruled out in advance, subject to Governing Council judgement.
• On the digital euro, she said interlinking TIPS with other jurisdictions' fast payment systems could support future cross-border CBDC payments, including potential cooperation with the Bank of Japan.

Executive summary

In an interview conducted on 4 November 2026 and published by the ECB on 7 November, President Christine Lagarde discussed the euro area inflation outlook, fiscal risk and the digital euro. She said October's headline inflation of 4% was higher…

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