He European Central Bank raised this Thursday its main interest rates by 0.25 percentage points, continuing with its monetary tightening policy to combat inflation, although at a lower rate than before.
“Prospects for inflation are still too high and have been for too long,” the institution said in a statement.
Interest rates are now between 3.5% and 4%, their highest level since October 2008.
This is the seventh consecutive rate hike, but this Thursday is the most moderate since the institution undertook a policy of monetary tightening to fight price rises.
In the statement, the eurobank He did not give clues about his future steps, although this question should be at the center of the press conference of his president, Christina Lagarde scheduled for Thursday afternoon.
This more moderate rise seems to indicate that the ECB “entered the final phase of its tightening cycle”, analyzes Carsten Brzeski, of the ING bank.
The decision taken by the 26-member ECB Governing Council matches the expectations of most analysts after a series of hikes since July 2022.
