Euro Zone Inflation Expectations Hit ECB Target of 2 Percent

Full shelves with fruits are pictured in a supermarket during the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Berlin, Germany on March 17, 2020. Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters

LONDON—A key market gauge of euro zone inflation expectations rose on Friday to 2 percent, the ECB’s inflation target, for the first time in seven years, putting pressure on the central bank as it weighs how to proceed with stimulus when its pandemic-era support ends.

The five-year, five-year forward inflation swap, a key market gauge of long-term euro zone inflation expectations, jumped four basis points on Friday to hit its highest since September 2014 at 2.0029 percent.