ECB will herald new policy era with rate path to fight inflation

Armed with new forecasts and with prices rising, President Christine Lagarde and her colleagues will end trillions of euros of asset purchases and cement a path to exiting eight years of negative interest rates.

While consumer prices surging at more than four times the 2% goal are alarming enough, it’s the outlook beyond the immediate term that will underpin the shift. Their projections are likely to show inflation won’t drop below the target again through 2024.

The European Central Bank will begin a new era of monetary policy this week as officials complete their pivot to confront the threat of inflation running out of control.

Armed with new forecasts and with prices rising at a record pace, President Christine Lagarde and her colleagues will end trillions of euros of asset purchases and cement a path to exiting eight years of negative interest rates.