As inflation remains unabated across the continent, the European Central Bank (ECB) raised core interest rates Thursday by a quarter point to 3.5 percent, the highest level they have been at in more than two decades.
Indicating that more increases are likely to follow in months ahead, ECB President Christine Lagarde said that rate hikes are the only means to effectively stall Europe’s run-away inflation.
The move came as a shocker for many analysts because the U.S. Federal Reserve — from which the ECB tends to take its cue — did not raise interest rate for June on Wednesday, although it projected possible increases for July.
The hike constituted the eighth consecutive increase for the ECB, which sets interest rates for the 20 countries that use the euro.
