Trade uncertainty lowers growth, inflation in near term, ECB’s Knot says

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -The U.S. administration’s trade policies are creating fundamental uncertainty in the global economy that could lower both economic growth and inflation in the near term, Dutch central bank chief Klaas Knot said on Tuesday.

Trade tensions, whether resolved or not, create an incentive for firms and households to postpone spending, reducing consumption and investment – a drag on overall growth, at least in the near term, Knot, the longest serving member of the European Central Bank’s Governing Council, told a conference.

(Reporting by Bart Meijer. Writing by Balazs Koranyi. Editing by Mark Potter)