John Fahey: No festive cheer from raft of new rate hikes

With inflation falling for the first time in 17 months in November, the ECB may opt for a more modest 50bps hike this week

There are tentative signs inflationary pressures may be easing. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA

This week’s raft of key central bank meetings will not provide much in the way of festive cheer. The ECB, US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England are all expected to accompany another round of rate hikes with a downbeat assessment of the economic outlook for 2023. However, they may well slow the pace of rate hikes.

All three central banks have enacted aggressive policy tightening this year, against the backdrop of surging inflation, to around 10% or above in some cases.