The event came a day after European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet surprised markets with news that the ECB could raise interest rates as early as next month to cap inflation, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Policy makers have systematically underestimated inflation and overestimated growth in advanced economies, he added in comments that kept up the ECB’s anti-inflation rhetoric and perhaps offered an oblique hint to the Fed. A firm majority of economists polled by Reuters after Thursday’s ECB news conference said the bank would raise rates by a quarter percentage point next month and do so twice more by the year-end.
The rise was the biggest one-day leap since the turmoil caused by the fall of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, and pushed the rate to its highest level in 19 months. The acceleration in inflation has been driven by a rise in the price of oil. Crude oil rose on Friday, with Brent above $115 (U.S.) a barrel, as fighting in Libya intensified.
Elsewhere in the euro zone, inflation is less of a concern - and it might even be welcome in economies that are struggling to rekindle growth. Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain in particular have yet to emerge from the recession. An increase in borrowing costs could undermine their chances of recovery. In its statement, the ECB showed that it understood the dilemma and would continue the special bond-buying and other programs it has used to support the weaker euro-zone economies.
(아주경제 앤드류 이 기자)
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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