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ECB Is Lonelier Than Ever After a Hawkish Turn Led by Fed

  • Pivotal week may set tone of policy divergence for months
  • Central banks deliver at least five rate hikes since Monday
European Central Bank headquarters beside the River Main in Frankfurt.

European Central Bank headquarters beside the River Main in Frankfurt.

Photographer: Alex Kraus/Bloomberg
Updated on

With central banks from Washington to London this week signaling more alarm over faster inflation, the ultra-stimulative path of the euro zone and some of its neighbors appears lonelier than ever. 

A collective move to look beyond the pandemic slump and toward the risk rising of accelerating prices emerged with a warning from the U.S. Federal Reserve that it may taper bond-buying soon, the prospect of higher interest rates as early as this year from the Bank of England and at least five other hikes from central banks around the globe.