The European Central Bank is set to join the U.S. Federal Reserve in making a jumbo interest rate hike Thursday as it tries to stamp out record inflation — although it risks worsening a recession that economists say is bearing down on Europe.
The meeting of the bank's governing council is not about whether to raise rates for the 19 countries that use the euro currency, but by how much: between half a percentage point or three-quarters of a point, analysts say. The bank made its first increase in 11 years at its last meeting in July, raising rates by a half-point when it usually changes by only a quarter-point.
