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ECB goes on offensive as inflation pressure mounts
The ECB has for months been preparing the end of the era of cheap money that supported the economy through a series of crises in recent years.
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European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde looks on during a debate on the 2018 annual report of the ECB, at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, Feb. 11, 2020. (Reuters/Vincent Kessler/File Photo)
T
he European Central Bank will raise its interest rates on Thursday for the first time in over a decade, but the bank is already under pressure to do more amid record inflation.
The ECB has for months been preparing the end of the era of cheap money that supported the economy through a series of crises in recent years.
To try and counteract a steep rise in prices the central bank has said it intends to raise its interest rates by a quarter point, the first such move since 2011.
The ECB already stopped its bond-buying stimulus programme at the beginning of July, as it laid the groundwork for the rise.
The lift-off in rates comes in response to an unprecedented surge in prices, driven higher by supply chain bottlenecks and the rising cost of energy following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Inflation in the eurozone sat at 8.6 percent in June, the highest ever recorded for the currency club and well above the ECB's two-percent target.
The Frankfurt-based institution continues playing catch up with its peers, like the US Federal Reserve, which started hiking earlier and more aggressively.
