Economics

Aidan Regan: Young renters and lower earners will pay the price for ECB’s anti-inflation strategy

There’s plenty of pain, but the only gain will be for the banks from the EU central bank’s plan to slow inflation to 2 per cent by turning the screw on the housing market

ECB headquarters in Frankfurt: a raft of interest rate hikes could see the mortgage interest rates for householders increase to almost 5 per cent by the end of the year. Picture: Getty

Since July 2022, the European Central Bank (ECB) has increased its key interest rate by 3 per cent, the sharpest and fastest rise in its history. Rates are expected to increase again by 0.5 per cent in March, and another 0.5 per cent after the summer.

By the end of the year, it is not unrealistic to expect that the key ECB interest rate could reach between 4 and 5 per cent, the highest ever ...