ECB must decide today to raise interest rates by 50 points

2023-02-02

The European Central Bank (ECB) is expected to announce, after this Thursday’s meeting, a new interest rate increase of 50 basis points to continue trying to control inflation, according to analysts.

This Thursday, the ECB’s first meeting of the year takes place, after having closed 2022 in total with a set of increases of 250 basis points.

At its last meeting, in December, the institution led by Christine Lagarde slowed down the pace of interest rate hikes, but warned that it would continue to raise them “significantly”, showing determination in combating inflation, which remains “too high ”.

At that time, the ECB decided to slow down and opted for a 50 basis point increase in its interest rates, setting the main refinancing interest rate at 2.5%, the highest level since the end of 2008.