It will be the end of the zero interest rate era when the ECB announces a rate hike on Thursday after 11 years. Above all, however, the rapid increase in energy prices has driven inflation in the euro area to a new record level. The US Federal Reserve reacted much earlier to the persistent inflation with higher interest rates. The ECB overslept, criticized Markus Zydra, SZ financial correspondent in Frankfurt am Main. There is a “golden central bank rule, if inflation rises, then the central bank has to raise the key interest rate”. The ECB is the only one of the major central banks that has not yet increased.
The key interest rate is “the yardstick of the monetary economy”. Banks will raise their interest rates – the announcement alone has caused real estate interest rates to rise and consumer credit to become more expensive. It is very likely that there will soon be first sales. “Because many loans were granted to customers who calculated their entire finances with Spitz.” Some households would soon no longer be able to afford financing for their real estate loans. However, the time of negative interest rates will then be over, says Zydra.
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