Interest-rate hike possible by year-end

Changing times: The ECB headquarters in Frankfurt. The central bank may raise interest rates this year – something it has not done for more than a decade. — Reuters

FRANKFURT: The European Central Bank (ECB) may need to raise interest rates this year if the outlook for eurozone inflation doesn’t improve “significantly,” according to the new head of Germany’s Bundesbank.

In his first major comments since taking office at the start of 2022, 55-year-old Joachim Nagel told the Zeit newspaper that the ECB has “reached a point that’s a textbook case for central-bank action” – signalling a significant policy shift could occur as soon as its next meeting in March.