ECB increases interest rates by 0.5% to tame surging inflation

The European Central Bank raised its key interest rate by 50 basis points, the first increase in 11 years and the biggest since 2000 as it confronts surging inflation even as recession risks mount.

With Italy enduring a fresh bout of political turmoil, President Christine Lagarde and colleagues also unveiled a tool they hope will ensure markets don’t push up borrowing costs too aggressively in vulnerable economies, as happened in 2012 when the euro’s very ...