ECB's hawk Lautenschlaeger still expects rate hike in 2019: Deutschlandfunk

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - European Central Bank director Sabine Lautenschlaeger still expects an interest rate hike in 2019 but concedes this will depend on inflation data in the first half of the year, she told German broadcaster Deutschlandfunk.

"It depends on what kind of inflation data we get in the first and second quarter of 2019," Lautenschlaeger said in an excerpt of an interview to be aired on Sunday, adding she hoped and expected to see a rate change next year.

(Reporting By Francesco Canepa, Editing by William Maclean)