The European Central Bank Raises Rates Again in the Fight Against Inflation
The European Central Bank imposed another large interest-rate increase on Thursday, as policymakers tried to quell the region’s record-high inflation.
The move will take the benchmark rate for the 19 countries using the euro to 1.5%. The central bank has now hiked rates at three consecutive meetings by a combined 2 percentage points in a bid to get control of inflation even as a recession looms.
“Inflation remains far too high and will stay above the target for an extended period,” the ECB said in a statement. “In recent months, soaring energy and food prices, supply bottlenecks and the post-pandemic recovery in demand have led to a broadening of price pressures and an increase in inflation,” it added.
The eurozone’s annual rate of inflation hit a record 9.9% in September, up from 9.1% in August. The bloc is also struggling with weak economic growth.
