The European Central Bank will raise interest rates by 25 basis points on July 27, according to all economists in a Reuters poll, a slight majority of whom were now also expecting another hike in September. Inflation in the euro zone has almost halved, down to 5.5% in June from a peak of 10.6% last October, but that has not been enough to deter the ECB, which said inflation was “projected to remain too high for too long” and it had “more ground to cover”. After eight consecutive rate rises since July 2022 for a total of 400 basis points, investors and analysts are now hotly debating how many more hikes are needed and ... (full story)