By Chris Jones - 30th August 2006
Eurozone interest rates remain unchanged at three per cent, but the European central bank has hinted strongly at a further hike in October.
Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the ECB, told journalists on Thursday that “strong vigilance” was needed to keep prices under control – his usual code for a likely increase in interest rates.
The ECB’s governing council had been widely expected to keep rates in the 12-country eurozone at the current level for at least another month, but many analysts predict this will be the calm before the storm.
Continuing worries about the impact of spiralling oil prices are expected to prompt the ECB into further rate rises in the coming months in order to keep consumer price inflation in check.
Some estimates suggest that rates could be as high as four per cent by the end of the year, although the consensus figure is 3.75 per cent.
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