Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour isn’t the only one causing rising inflation | Wilnesh News

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said on Tuesday that Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour was not the only factor contributing to high inflation in the euro zone.

Lagarde said that although inflation in the G20 services sector remained high last month, which coincided with a sell-out of Swift’s European tour, it could not be attributed to just one performer.

“You know, it’s not just Taylor Swift,” Lagarde told CNBC’s Sarah Eisen in Sintra, Portugal. “Others are coming too.”

Lagarde was responding to a question about whether Swift’s trip could boost inflation in services, one of the measures the ECB is closely watching.

The economic impact of Swift’s sell-out tour has been well-documented, raising concerns that central banks may not be out of the woods yet in fighting inflation.

Terms like “Swiftflation” and “Swiftonomics” emerged last year as spending on services such as hotels, flights and restaurants surged around her shows. Analysts even said her impact on key UK inflation data during her London date could prompt the Bank of England to delay an expected September interest rate cut.

However, increased consumer spending from major music tours by other artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Pink and Sting is also said to have led to economic growth.

“Services are the most difficult,” Lagarde noted, adding that “the jury is still out” on whether this stickiness will be permanent.

The European Union’s statistics agency said earlier on Tuesday that euro zone services sector inflation was stable at 4.1% in June. Excluding the impact of fluctuations in energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, the core inflation rate remained at 2.9% from the previous month, slightly higher than the 2.8% forecast by economists.

Meanwhile, headline inflation fell to 2.5% in June from 2.6% in May, in line with expectations of economists polled by Reuters.

Lagarde was speaking at the European Central Bank’s annual monetary policy meeting, where central bankers from around the world gather to discuss the outlook for inflation and the future path of interest rates.

She added that the ECB was currently “very advanced” in curbing inflation, but noted that uncertainty remained.

“We have made great progress on the path to deflation,” she said. “We are in the midst of the slow recovery that occurred in the first quarter and we hope that this recovery will continue.”

The European Central Bank cut interest rates for the first time in nearly five years last month, taking the key interest rate to 3.75% from a record 4%. current analyst expected The European Central Bank will cut interest rates twice this year, in September and December.

—CNBC’s Jenni Reid contributed to this report.