Scale of European Central Bank rate hike on Thursday goes down to the wire

"'There’s still a narrow path to a 50 basis-point hike," says 'Bloomberg Economics' chief European economist Jamie Rush.

There is a broad agreement within the ECB’s governing council that the deposit rate, currently 3%, must rise further.

This week’s interest-rate decision by the European Central Bank is going down to the wire as officials await two key economic reports arriving just one day before they convene.

Tuesday morning will first see the release of the ECB’s quarterly survey of bank lending — offering a first glimpse into how the recent financial-sector turmoil has impacted credit growth.