ECB to push on with rate cuts | The Manila Times

FRANKFURT ― Despite US President Donald Trump's saber-rattling, the European Central Bank is set to press on with interest rate cuts Thursday as officials increasingly voice confidence that the fight against inflation is on track.

The central bank hiked borrowing costs aggressively from mid-2022 to tame runaway energy and food costs, but is now bringing them back down as price rises slow and the eurozone economy looks weak.
ECB policymakers are expected to cut their benchmark deposit rate by a further quarter point to 2.75 percent on Thursday, its fifth reduction since June last year.
Recent upticks in inflation ― such as a jump to 2.4 percent in December, above the ECB's 2-percent target ― have caused some jitters.
But ECB officials have sounded upbeat that the battle to control the pace of price rises remains on course.

"We are confident of seeing inflation at target in the course" of this year, President Christine Lagarde said in an interview with US broadcaster CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The ECB announcement comes a day after the Federal Reserve paused its rate cuts after inflation in the United States ticked up, despite pressure from Trump to further lower borrowing costs.
Felix Schmidt from Berenberg Bank was among economists predicting a fresh rate cut by the ECB Thursday, believing that inflation will ease in 2025.
Falls "in energy prices in particular will push inflation towards two percent as the year progresses," Schmidt said.

Focus on stumbling eurozone
As high rates increasingly pressure households and businesses, the ECB's focus is now firmly on supporting growth in the eurozone, which is languishing amid a manufacturing slowdown and tepid consumer demand.