ECB seen shunning half-point hike for smaller moves from July

Calls for more forceful action as the ECB winds down years of stimulus measures follow another euro-area inflation record last month, when prices jumped 8.1% 

ECB President Christine Lagarde is expected to use her June 9 news conference to affirm the more cautious exit strategy she outlined last week -- namely an imminent end to large-scale asset purchases before rate liftoff next month.

Efforts by European Central Bank hawks to secure an initial half-point hike in interest rates will fail as policy makers agree on a series of smaller increases, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists.

The ECB will lift the deposit rate -- now at -0.5% -- by a quarter-point in July and again in September, the poll showed. While in line with President Christine Lagarde’s vow to end subzero borrowing costs in the third quarter, that’s less aggressive than the path sought by officials like Austria’s Robert Holzmann.