ECB raises interest rate by another 50 points

To counter high inflation in Europe, ECB raises key interest rate by another 50 basis points to 3 percent.

The European Central Bank turns the interest rate screw once again, raising the key Eurozone interest rate from 2.50 percentage points to 3.00 percentage points. The central bank announced this today in a press release.

announced. The deposit facility, the interest rate banks receive for deposits at the ECB, will also be raised by another 50 basis points to 2.50 percent. With this decision, European monetary watchers are following yesterday's interest rate adjustment by the Federal Reserve (Fed) in the U.S. and are also continuing their tightening of monetary policy.

Europe remains well above inflation target

With this measure, the ECB is trying to counter persistently high inflation in the euro zone. Although consumer prices fell further by an estimated 8.20 percentage points in January, according to the forecast released Wednesday, inflation in Europe remains well above the 2.00 percent inflation target.