ECB hike to hit 300,000 Irish mortgages as experts warn more rises are expected

Mortgage holders may get some respite, as two banks say they won't pass on the first rate rise — but further ECB hikes are expected later this year. Stock picture: Dann Tardif/Corbis
Around 300,000 households on tracker mortgages are likely to face cost increases of over €3,000 this year after the European Central Bank on Thursday started to raise its official rates for the first time in over a decade.
ECB president Christine Lagarde told reporters a hefty half-point hike was justified as the shockwaves of energy and food inflation since the Russian invasion of Ukraine sent price pressures “spreading across more and more sectors”.