Raising the European Central Bank's (ECB) inflation target for short-term gains would be "opportunistic" and harm the central bank's credibility, according to Peter Praet, a member of the ECB's executive board.

Speaking yesterday in Copenhagen, Praet did not entirely rule out such a move, although he said he was "very sceptical" of the proposal, which has received backing from academia, policy circles and markets. "A change to [the inflation target] range – and notably to its upper quantitative