{"id":456457,"date":"2026-06-11T17:28:35","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T15:28:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2026\/06\/11\/la-banca-centrale-europea-alza-i-tassi-dello-025-per-cento-lagarde-decisione-necessaria\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T14:01:53","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T12:01:53","slug":"the-european-central-bank-raises-interest-rates-by-0-25-per-cent-lagarde-a-necessary-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2026\/06\/11\/the-european-central-bank-raises-interest-rates-by-0-25-per-cent-lagarde-a-necessary-decision\/","title":{"rendered":"The European Central Bank raises interest rates by 0.25 per cent. Lagarde: “A necessary decision”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels \u2013 The European Central Bank <\/span>has raised interest rates<\/span><\/a> by 0.25 per cent, from 2 per cent to 2.25 per cent. This is the first time since September 2023<\/strong>. Almost three years ago, rates were raised in response to inflation triggered by the war in Ukraine, and today (11 June) too, the monetary tightening comes in the wake of an energy crisis linked to a conflict, this time in Iran. \u201cThe war in the Middle East<\/strong><\/span>,\u201d said ECB President Christine Lagarde at the press conference following the ECB Governing Council meeting<\/strong><\/span>, “is generating inflationary pressures<\/strong> and the decision to raise rates is robust across all possible scenarios regarding how the shock might unfold and affect the euro area\u2019s medium-term outlook.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the new estimates<\/a> of the ECB\u2019s economists, headline inflation is expected to average 3 per cent in 2026, 2.3 per cent in 2027 and 2 per cent in 2028<\/strong>. \u201cCompared with March,\u201d explained Lagarde, \u201c staff have revised the baseline projections for inflation in 2026 and 2027 upwards, due to the expected rise in energy prices, which is forecast to feed through to some extent into inflation for food, goods, and services.\u201d The baseline projections also indicate average economic growth of 0.8 per cent in 2026, 1.2 per cent in 2027 and 1.5 per cent in 2028. \u201cThis is a downward revision for 2026 and 2027, reflecting a more pronounced impact of the war on commodity markets, real incomes, and confidence,\u201d said the President of the European Central Bank.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Lagarde pointed out that the outlook <\/strong>\u201cremains uncertain, with upside risks to inflation and downside risks to economic growth<\/strong>\u201d and that \u201cthe overall implications of the war for inflation and medium-term growth will depend on the intensity and duration of the shock to energy prices<\/strong>, as well as the extent of its indirect and second-round effects.\u201d With today\u2019s decision, \u201cthe Governing Council is best placed to manage the uncertainty caused by the war,\u201d she emphasised. \u201cIt will monitor the situation closely and decide on a case-by-case basis, based on available data, on the direction of monetary policy. In particular, decisions on interest rates will be based on an assessment of the inflation outlook and the associated risks, in the light of new economic and financial data, core inflation dynamics, and the effectiveness of monetary policy transmission.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Furthermore, Lagarde confirmed that the <\/strong><\/span>decision to raise rates by 25 basis points \u201cwas unanimous\u201d and that \u201cno other alternatives were discussed<\/strong> based on the new economic forecasts<\/strong><\/span>.\u201d The decision, she added, \u201cis not drastic\u201d and \u201csends a signal: it is necessary given the economic situation we find ourselves in, the uncertainty we are facing, the inflation outlook, and the projections drawn up by the Eurosystem.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

How is the eurozone economy faring? <\/b><\/h4>\n

Christine Lagarde outlined the situation in the eurozone, where \u201cthe economy grew in the first quarter, buoyed by domestic demand and exports.\u201d However, the war in the Middle East \u201cis weighing on activity, and economic surveys point to a slowdown, particularly in services.\u201d The manufacturing sector has held up so far, \u201cpartly because firms have built up stocks to cope with supply chain pressures, and partly thanks to increased defence spending,\u201d the president explained.<\/span><\/p>\n

The labour market also \u201cremains resilient.\u201d The unemployment rate, at 6.3 per cent in April, remains close to historic lows. New jobs were created in the first quarter, albeit at a slower pace than in the final quarter of 2025.\u201d Demand for labour, meanwhile, \u201chas cooled further.\u201d The European Central Bank\u2019s staff now expects \u201cweaker domestic demand than projected in March,\u201d she added, \u201cas the war weighs on confidence and rising energy prices erode real incomes. At the same time, household finances are broadly sound and consumption is expected to remain the main driver of growth.\u201d Although rising energy prices and falling confidence \u201cwill dampen private investment in the short term,\u201d it should nevertheless \u201cbe supported by business investment in new digital technologies.\u201d Furthermore, increased public spending on defence and infrastructure <\/strong><\/span>\u201cis expected to continue to support public investment<\/strong><\/span>,\u201d Lagarde specified. These factors should therefore partly mitigate the impact of the war.<\/span><\/p>\n

The President took the opportunity during the press conference to make a number of recommendations, foremost among them the need to implement \u201creforms aimed at strengthening the euro area\u2019s growth potential and at accelerating the energy transition<\/a>\u00a0to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.\u201d Completing the Savings and Investment Union is \u201cessential for financing innovation, supporting the green and digital transitions and improving productivity,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Inflation \u201crose to 3.2 per cent in May, from 3 per cent in April,\u201d and \u201cenergy inflation reached 10.9 per cent, following 10.8 per cent in April, while food inflation fell from 2.4 per cent to 2 per cent.\u201d Short-term inflation expectations \u201cremain well above pre-war levels in the Middle East,\u201d Lagarde said. At the same time, most measures of long-term inflation expectations stand at around 2 per cent, supporting the stabilisation of inflation around the target in the medium term.<\/span><\/p>\n

As regards risk assessment, the risks to growth are “skewed to the downside, mainly due to the war in the Middle East”, which is taking place against an already unstable geopolitical backdrop. A prolonged disruption to energy supplies could further erode real incomes and dampen investment and consumption, while the closure of shipping routes could lead to shortages of essential raw materials. As for prices, according to Lagarde, the risks are \u201cskewed to the upside\u201d: if energy prices remain high for longer, inflation could rise further and spread to wages and other prices. Therefore, only a swift resolution of the war, or knock-on\u00a0effects less severe than expected, could bring inflation back down to lower levels<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The ECB President\u2019s statement following the Governing Council meeting: \u201cThe overall implications of the war for inflation and medium-term growth will depend on the intensity and duration of the shock to energy prices\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7911,"featured_media":456411,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25705,30805,25681],"tags":[26152,33392,26151,25828,26107,26153,27569,27337,33394],"class_list":["post-456457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-industry-markets","category-politics","tag-christine-lagarde-en","tag-energia","tag-bank-central-en-en","tag-eurozone-en","tag-inflation-en","tag-tassi-di-interesse-en","tag-iran-in-2","tag-middle-east-en","tag-ue"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7911"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=456457"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456457\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":456534,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456457\/revisions\/456534"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/456411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=456457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=456457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=456457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}