Policymakers at the European Central Bank (ECB) decided to raise the benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points on July 21, exceeding market expectations and marking the first time in 11 years that the bloc’s monetary authorities have hiked rates.
The move brings the ECB’s policy rate up to zero percent from negative territory, where rates had been pegged for the past eight years in a bid to stimulate sluggish growth in the 19 nations that share the euro currency.
