European Central Bank chief economist: Must 'take our time' on rate cuts, clearer picture due in June

The European Central Bank must take its time to get interest rate cuts right and will have a clearer picture of inflationary pressures in June, the institution's chief economist told CNBC.

"A lot of evidence is accumulating, but what's also fair to say is that the transition from this holding phase, we've been on hold since last September since a substantial hiking cycle, we do have to take our time to get that right, from holding to dialing back restrictions," Philip Lane told CNBC's Steve Sedgwick on Thursday.

Lane, a Governing Council member, said the euro zone central bank's March meeting had been an "important milestone" in the accumulation of evidence, and showed the "disinflation process has been ongoing." During the meeting, the ECB held rates and released updated macroeconomic projections, which lowered its inflation forecast for this year to 2.3% from 2.7%.

Inflation in the 20-nation bloc eased to 2.6% in February.

In line with the ECB's March messaging, Lane said that more data was required, particularly around wages, and that the Governing Council would "learn a lot by April, a lot more by June" — the dates of its next two meetings.

In a news conference after the March meeting, ECB President Christine Lagarde said market pricing on the timing of rate cuts — which indicate a start in June as of Thursday — "seems to be converging better" with the central bank's view.

June emerged as a key date in market commentary, as it's set to mark the first meeting where the ECB can assess spring data on wage negotiations for the year.

Asked about other colleagues on the ECB's Governing Council who have suggested rate cuts could take place before the summer, Lane said he believed this was a reference to the second quarter, which