The European Central Bank (ECB) will raise its key rate by 50 basis points again in March to slow the growth of inflation, the head of the regulator Christine Lagarde said in an interview with the Spanish TV channel Antena 3.
“We will have another increase at the next meeting, inflation is too high, we must take the necessary measures to reduce it… Next month there will be an increase of 0.50%,” she said.
Lagarde explained that at the moment the ECB is aiming to reduce inflation to 2% in 2025. At the same time, she noted that interest rates themselves will not return to the levels of 2019 and 2020.
In early February, following the meeting, the ECB raised the discount rate by 50 basis points to 3% from 2.5%. The regulator added that it intends to raise the discount rate by another 50 basis points in March.
