ECB hikes key rates by 50 basis points in March as expected

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The European Central Bank (ECB) announced on Thursday that it raised its key rates by 50 basis points (bps) following the March policy meeting, as expected. 

With this decision, the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will be increased to 3.5%, 3.75% and 3%, respectively.

In its policy statement, “elevated level of uncertainty reinforces importance of a data-dependent approach to ECB’s policy rate decisions, which will be determined by its assessment of inflation outlook in light of incoming economic and financial data, dynamics of underlying inflation, and strength of monetary policy transmission,” the ECB noted.