(March 10): European Central Bank (ECB) Governing Council member Madis Muller said the chances of an interest-rate hike have risen of late, but that officials shouldn’t react hastily to the war in Iran and its implications. “That probably has gone up in the last couple of weeks.”At the same time, the ECB shouldn’t “rush into any decisions”, he said. “We should first see if this increase in energy prices that we now are experiencing, if that turns out to be transitory or not.”Traders ramped up bets on monetary tightening as the fighting in the Middle East sent energy prices surging. Speaking at the same event, Muller’s Lithuanian counterpart Gediminas Simkus also warned against hasty action. “If things would last, if things spread, it would have implications not only on inflation but also more generally on the Middle East and also for Europe.”The ECB will next set borrowing costs on March 19.

Source: The Edge Markets March 10, 2026 09:29 UTC