"Eurozone Inflation Persists"... ECB to Announce '8th Consecutive' Rate Hike Today

The European Central Bank (ECB) is expected to raise the deposit rate, a type of key interest rate, at the monetary policy meeting on the afternoon of the 15th (local time) to curb inflation.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

According to major foreign media, experts predict that the ECB will raise the deposit rate by 0.25 percentage points to 3.5%. Since the inflation rate in the Eurozone remains at 6.1%, three times the target rate of 2%, it is expected that the ECB will maintain its tightening stance.

Accordingly, the dominant view is that the ECB will raise the deposit rate for the eighth consecutive time to 3.5%, the highest level since August 2001.

The fact that the ECB started raising interest rates later than other countries last year also adds weight to the possibility of further rate hikes. The ECB began raising rates to stabilize prices in July last year, one month later than the United States. Karsten Brzeski of ING Bank in the Netherlands said, "The ECB cannot afford to make another mistake."

Experts expect the rate hike trend to continue next month, pushing the deposit rate up to 3.75%, and that this level will be maintained for about a year. The key interest rate, which was raised to 3.75% last month, is also expected to be increased further this month and next month to reach 4.25%.

However, the Federal Reserve (Fed), the central bank of the United States, decided to pause its streak of 10 consecutive rate hikes and maintain the key interest rate at 5.00?5.25% on the same day, which could be a variable factor.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.