ECB raises interest rates to highest level since euro launched

Christine Lagarde said ECB interest rates had reached levels that would make ‘a substantial contribution to the timely return of inflation to the target’. Photograph: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images

The European Central Bank has raised interest rates to the highest level since the launch of the euro to tackle stubbornly high inflation, despite fears over a slowdown across the single currency bloc.

It marks the 10th consecutive rate rise for the bank, as the ECB warned inflation remained too high even as the impact of previous increases and a weakening outlook for global trade weigh on the eurozone economy.