The European Central Bank is set to continue its interest rate hikes for some time ahead as the minutes of the latest policy session in December revealed that many policymakers had sought a jumbo raise of 75 basis points due to the prospect of inflation staying high for too long, but eventually agreed on a smaller half basis point lift in a bid to have more room for higher rates in the future. Elsewhere, ECB President Christine Lagarde and fellow policymaker Klaas Knot also signaled that interest rates have to rise further as inflation remained uncomfortably elevated, and the former even cautioned markets against pricing in smaller hikes.
"A large number of members initially expressed a preference for increasing the key ECB interest rates by 75 basis points, as inflation was clearly expected to be too high for too long," the minutes, which the ECB calls 'account', of the December 14-15 Governing Council meeting showed Thursday.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Business News
May 22, 2026 14:46 ET Minutes of the latest Fed policy session was the highlight of the week along with survey data on the U.S. housing market. In Europe, survey data signaled the trends in the euro area private sector. Further, consumer price inflation data from the U.K. was in focus. In Asia, various economic indicators from China drew attention to the health of the economy.