Policymaker: ECB could issue rate hikes sooner than expected

While the ECB has been seen as the most dovish of the central banks, it adopted a ‘hawkish tone' in its meeting earlier this month, leading analysts to believe that a rate hike was likely to come earlier than December 2022, as has been previously predicted. With inflation set to peak at 4.8% in the first quarter of this year, the ECB has quickly veered away from a pledge to not issue a rate hike this year and several policymakers have begun pushing for ending the ECB's bond buying programme this year, which was previously stated as a prerequisite for any hike. However, Holzmann said i...