European Central Bank's Sleijpen said that the market's expectation of a rate hike is "reasonable".

Olaf Sleijpen, a member of the European Central Bank's Governing Council, believes that investors betting on a rate hike this year is reasonable. "From the market expectations, I wouldn't say their expectations are completely wrong," he told CNBC on Thursday. "I think it's a reasonable expectation." The current market fully reflects the expectation of two 0.25 percentage point rate hikes, with the first increase expected in June. When discussing the policy meeting in April, Sleijpen said the ECB still has a few weeks to assess the situation in the Middle East.