ECB's Trichet signals imminent rate hike
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet on Friday sent the clearest signal yet that the central bank will lift interest rates at its next meeting. Trichet told a conference in Frankfurt the "governing council is ready to take a decision" after holding its key rate at 2% since June 2003 to compensate for a slow growing Western European economy. He added the central bank is prepared to "moderately augment" rates.
With growth picking up -- euro-zone GDP grew at a quarterly 0.6% clip in the third quarter from 0.3% in the second quarter -- and annualized inflation above 2.5%, markets have been anticipating that the central bank would soon move to lift interest rates.
No comments:
Post a Comment