Europe’s central bank to join global push for higher rates

By DAVID McHUGH
AP Business Writer

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Central Bank is ready to join the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of England in a global rush to raise interest rates and put a lid on galloping inflation. The ECB is late to the party, in part because the economy in the 19 countries using the euro is shakier due to the war next door in Ukraine. And while rate hikes can help squelch inflation, they can slow economic growth as well. Bank President Christine Lagarde said last month that the ECB’s first interest rate increase in 11 years would come at Thursday’s meeting. She said it would a quarter-percentage point hike, but analysts say it could be a half-point.