Lagarde opens door to ECB rate hikes

EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK President Christine Lagarde opened the door on Wednesday to raising interest rates in the euro zone if war in West Asia pushes up euro zone inflation for sometime.

- REUTERS

The ECB left rates unchanged last week but warned about a looming surge in prices, and policymakers are now debating the conditions that could force them to raise borrowing costs to stop rapid price growth from getting entrenched.Lagarde said the ECB would have to respond in a forceful or persistent way if inflat