ECB Expected to Raise Policy Rate This Week as Middle East War Continues and Oil Prices Rise

[Financial News] The European Central Bank (ECB) is expected to raise its policy rate this week. It would be the second hike of the year.
According to experts on the 6th, local time, the ECB is focusing on two issues: the continuing war in the Middle East and rising international oil prices.
Eurozone inflation stood at 3.3% in August, reaching its highest level in about three years. That was well above the 2% target.
If economic growth remains solid, the ECB will face stronger pressure to raise interest rates. The ECB is known as the most hawkish central bank among the Group of Seven (G7).
With a rate hike this month now widely regarded as a certainty, market attention has already shifted to whether there will be another increase in December. Forecasts are divided over whether the ECB will raise rates again this year.
Most economists expect this week's rate hike to be the last of the year. However, analysts at JPMorgan Chase, Société Générale, and BNP Paribas recently revised their forecasts in a direction suggesting another rate increase.
The ECB has consistently expressed a clear position on the need for preemptive tightening.


[email protected] Lee Seok-woo, International Affairs Correspondent Reporter