As expected, the European Central Bank, ECB, raises the key interest rate by 0.5 percentage points to 3.0 percent, the highest level since December 2008.
In a statement from the bank, management points out that the interest rate needs to be increased further by 0.50 percentage points at the next meeting in March.
The reactions on the financial markets were small.
The interest rate announcement comes after unexpectedly weak GDP statistics from the eurozone’s largest economy, Germany, and an unexpectedly significant drop in inflation according to the CPI measure in the eurozone countries in January.
On Wednesday, the US central bank Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 0.25 percentage points to a range of 4.50-4.75 percent
The article is updated.