Overview
- Christine Lagarde toured Florence’s Sant’Ambrogio market on October 28, speaking with vendors and checking prices for vegetables, cheeses and eggs before buying pomegranates.
- She said food prices remain above the ECB’s roughly 2% average inflation and are still rising, adding that authorities must ensure they continue to decline.
- Market representatives argued the largest price increases occur along the supply chain and urged more granular tracking of how costs move from wholesale to retail.
- Italian agricultural associations criticized her remarks, with Coldiretti calling for lower interest rates, Copagri warning of risks to producers, and Fedagripesca pointing to higher EU quality standards that raise costs.
- The walkabout functioned as public outreach ahead of the Florence meeting, and no policy decisions were announced.