FRANKFURT—The European Central Bank raised interest rates by a half percentage point, pressing ahead with its fight against inflation despite concerns that this could exacerbate strains in the financial system.
The ECB said in a statement that it would increase its key rate to 3%, the highest level since 2008, following consecutive half-point rate increases in February and December. Many investors had been betting that the ECB might unveil a smaller, quarter-point rate increase on Thursday after last week’s turmoil in the U.S. banking sector spread to Europe.
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