ECB Rate Rise Back on Table as Oil Hits $98 on Red Sea Tanker Strikes
π FRANKFURT β The war just handed the ECB a problem it had declared solved. π LOOK CLOSER: $98 Brent after weeks of rate-hold consensus forces the ECB to choose between inflation and growth at the worst moment. Red Sea strikes removed the last rerouting valve; markets are now pricing no safe corridor. A rate rise tightens credit across eurozone economies already absorbing energy shocks β the war's fiscal bill lands in Frankfurt, not just the Gulf.