The European Central Bank raised its interest rates for the first time in nearly three years in a bid to cushion the impact of rising inflation that is triggered by the surge in energy prices due to the conflict in the Middle East, as the single currency economy struggles to grow. The Governing Council, led by ECB President Christine Lagarde, hiked the deposit rate by 25 basis points to 2.25%.
House prices in the U.K. fell for a third month in a row in May amid the global uncertainty linked to the tensions in West Asia and subdued demand due to higher borrowing costs, results of a survey by S&P Global showed on Friday. The house price index fell 0.1 percent month-on-month in May, same as in April, the S&P Global survey conducted for the Lloyds Bank subsidiary Halifax revealed.
A Bank of England survey showed on Friday that businesses expect a bigger increase in their costs in the one year-ahead horizon but lowered their view on the consumer price inflation for the same period. Firms raised their year-ahead own-price inflation expectation to 4.0 percent in the three months to May from 3.8 percent in the three months to April, the DMP survey showed.
U.S. nonfarm business sector productivity slowed much more than initially estimated and unit labor costs increased less than expected in the first quarter of the year, revised data from the Department of Labor showed on Thursday.
The Czech National Bank raised the countercyclical capital buffer rate on Thursday, citing strong lending activity, rising debt and increasing housing prices. The CNB bank board decided to increase the countercyclical capital buffer (CCyB) rate by 25 basis points to 1.5 percent with effect from July 1, 2027, at its financial stability meeting.
Latvia's economic growth eased in the first quarter of the year amid a decline in public spending but strong gains in investment offset the impact, and retail sales grew in April on higher demand for non-food products and automotive fuel, separate reports from the Central Statistical Bureau showed on Friday.
Portugal's economy grew at a faster pace in the first quarter of the year underpinned by domestic demand, and inflation remained broadly unchanged in April, separate reports from Statistics Portugal showed on Friday. Gross domestic product grew 2.3 percent year-on-year following a 1.9 percent increase in the previous quarter. This was in line with the flash estimate released on April 30.
Croatia's economy grew at the slowest pace in just over five years in the first quarter of this year amid a slower growth in consumption and investments as well as the slump in exports and imports, preliminary data from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics showed on Thursday. Gross domestic product rose...
The European Central Bank "will do what is necessary" to bring inflation back to the 2 percent target, ECB policymaker and Bank of France Governor Villeroy de Galhau said in an interview to the broadcaster CNBC on Tuesday. "The data so far are telling that it's mainly a first-round effect, but we should be extremely vigilant about possible second-round effect," the policymaker said.
The Hungarian central bank left its key interest rates unchanged for a third policy session in a row on Tuesday, in line with expectations. The Monetary Council decided to hold the central bank base rate steady at 6.25 percent and the deposit interest rate at 5.25 percent, the Magyar Nemzeti Bank said in a statement. The lending rate was kept unchanged at 7.25 percent.