The Central Bank of Europe will publish today (Thursday) the inflation data in the Eurozone, after major countries on the continent such as France, Germany and Spain. published their data.
While the hope in Europe is that inflation in the countries of the bloc will drop significantly, it seems that it is actually raising its head. According to the Integrated Consumer Price Index (HICP) published by the statistical office of the European Commission, Aerostat, there is an annual inflation rate of 7.2% in France and 6.1% in Spain. In Germany, a higher than expected figure was published, at a rate (HICP) of 9.3% in February.
After reaching a peak of 10.6% in October, inflation in the Eurozone in January, according to the HICP index, stood at 8.6%, below forecasts (8.7%) and significantly lower than December’s figure of 9.2%. The Europeans’ hopes for continued price cooling have been dashed, and preliminary data indicate that inflation will remain “sticky” for a long time. Bloomberg reports that investors have raised their bets regarding continued interest rate hikes in Europe in the near term. The final interest rate (Terminal Rate) in the bloc, according to the speculators, will be higher than what was predicted at the beginning of the year: from the current figure of 2.5%, the market estimated that it will reach 3.5%. But in the last few days traders in the market have raised the expectations for an interest rate of 4% – the highest ever in Europe.