- Mozambique vote: no suspense but some disillusion
- Austrian rapper channels anti-racist rage in Romani hip-hop songs
- Ohtani magic powers Dodgers over Padres in MLB playoff thriller
- Five of the best: Pakistan-England Test thrillers
- Man sets arm on fire as marches across US mark Gaza war anniversary
- Vietnam's young coffee entrepreneurs brew up a revolution
- Trump rallies at site of failed assassination: 'Never quit'
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- Is music finally reckoning with #MeToo?
- Fans hail Trump's 'guts' as he returns to site of rally shooting
- Lebanon state media says 'very violent' Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Guardians maul Tigers, miracle Mets rally in MLB series openers
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Madrid beat Villarreal but Carvajal suffers knee injury
- Madrid beat Villarreal to move level with Liga leaders Barcelona
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- French rugby player on rape charge whistled but 'serene' on return
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
- Thuram treble fires Inter past Torino and up to second
- 'Fight': defiant Trump jets in to site of rally shooting
- Toddler among 3 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Mexico City's new mayor sworn in with pledges on water, housing
- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Guardians maul Tigers in MLB playoff series opener
- Macron criticises Israel on Gaza, Lebanon operations
- French rugby player whistled but 'serene' on return amid ongoing rape case
- Kovacic stars as Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
- Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- France's Auradou whistled on Pau return in Perpignan loss amid ongoing rape case
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Arsenal hit back in style after Southampton scare
- Thousands march for Palestinians ahead of Oct 7 anniversary
- Hezbollah heir apparent Safieddine out of contact after strikes
- Liverpool stay top of Premier League as Arsenal, Man City win
- In dank Tour of Emilia, Pogacar shines in rainbow jersey
- DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak
- Trump returns to site of failed assassination
- Careless Leverkusen held to Bundesliga draw
- O'Brien's 'superstar' Kyprios posts landmark win on Arc weekend
- Toddler crushed to death in migrant Channel crossing
- Liverpool suffer Alisson injury blow
- Habosi helps Racing beat Vannes before Auradou's playing return
- Thousands march in London in support of Palestinians, 1 year after Oct 7
- Israel readying response to Iran missile attack
ECB chief opens door to 2022 rate hike as inflation soars
European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde on Thursday left open the possibility of interest rate hikes this year for the first time, as the eurozone comes under pressure from soaring prices.
The "situation had indeed changed" Lagarde said in a press conference after inflation unexpectedly rose to 5.1 percent in the euro area in January, an all-time high since records for the currency club began in 1997 and well above the ECB's two-percent target.
"Inflation is likely to remain elevated for longer than previously expected," Lagarde said, following a meeting of the bank's 25-member governing council.
The surge could largely be ascribed to soaring energy costs, Lagarde said, but along with supply bottlenecks, the driving forces for price rises were expected to "subside" this year.
But the former French finance minister acknowledged that "risks to the inflation outlook are tilted to the upside, particularly in the near term", saying it could go higher.
"We need to continue to monitor very carefully," she said.
At the bank's last meeting in December and on several occasions since, Lagarde had said it was "very unlikely" that the ECB would raise its ultra-low rates in 2022.
On Thursday, the ECB president declined to repeat that claim, saying she would "never make pledges without conditionalities", and that the bank's next moves would be "data dependent".
In doing so, Lagarde had "opened the door... to a rate hike this year", said Carsten Brzeski, head of macro at the ING bank.
- Slower pace -
The steep rise in consumer prices seen globally has induced other central banks to act, with the Bank of England announcing a second straight rate hike on Thursday.
The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to follow suit soon after signalling multiple rate hikes this year.
On the other side of the Atlantic, wage increases have been more visible than in the eurozone, driving US inflation as high as seven percent in December.
That and the comparatively lower importance of energy prices have encouraged the Federal Reserve to take tough action.
ECB policymakers held their interest rates at record lows on Thursday, including a negative deposit rate that charges financial institutions to park their cash with the central bank overnight.
The ECB's more cautious response is predicated on its forecasts that see inflation dropping below the central bank's two-percent goal in 2023 and 2024 and a promise to end stimulus bond purchases before hiking rates.
At its last meeting in December, the ECB announced a "step-by-step" reduction in its vast bond-buying programme.
Lagarde pushed back expectations of any policy adjustment until the ECB's next meeting in March, when governing council members will have new growth and inflation projections to work with.
"We will not be complacent, but we're not going to be rushed into a process", Lagarde said, adding that inflation was "getting closer to target" over the medium-term.
The rising cost of living was a "hardship" for those "who have to fill up the tank and who have to put food on the table", Lagarde added.
- Ukraine concerns -
The eurozone economy reached its pre-coronavirus pandemic level in the fourth quarter of 2021, but growth could be "subdued" through 2022 due to a similar set of factors as those driving inflation, Lagarde said.
The risks to the economic outlook are "broadly balanced over the medium term," said Lagarde.
"The geopolitical clouds that we have over Europe, if they were to materialise, would certainly have an impact on energy prices" and the rest of the economy, Lagarde said.
D.Sawyer--AMWN