The U.S. Federal Reserve may have hit “pause” on interest rate hikes, but the European Central Bank still has its finger on “fast forward” as inflation plagues consumers with higher costs for everything from groceries to utility bills and summer vacations.
Analysts say an increase of a quarter-percentage point is a foregone conclusion when the ECB's governing council meets Thursday, a day after the Fed took at least a temporary breather after 10 straight hikes.
