ECB Rate Decision Due as Brent Holds Above $100 on Gulf War Premium
📉 FRANKFURT — The ECB hikes to fight inflation it can't fix at the source. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: With Brent holding above $100 on Gulf war supply risk, Lagarde faces a rate decision where tightening addresses the symptom, not the cause. Higher rates slow European demand but cannot restore Hormuz flow. Italian and southern European borrowers pay twice: energy import costs and tighter credit simultaneously, widening sovereign spreads at the worst moment.
