ECB Hikes, Pre-Announces Another Hike, Opens Door To Pause

The ECB got right to the point on Thursday while hiking rates by another 50bps. "The Governing Council will stay the course in raising interest rates significantly at a steady pace and in keeping them at levels that are sufficiently restrictive to ensure a timely return of inflation to its 2% medium-term target," policymakers declared, in the very first sentence of the new statement. The second sentence was equally terse, and about as direct as central bank statement language gets in the moder