Updated

The European Central Bank's Governing Council concluded its monetary policy meeting on Thursday, September 10, 2026, with the rate decision scheduled for announcement at 2:15 p.m. CET in Frankfurt, followed by President Christine Lagarde's press conference. Going into the meeting, analysts and money markets overwhelmingly expected the ECB to raise the deposit facility rate by 25 basis points to 2.50% and the main refinancing rate to 2.65%, which would end the pause it took in July and resume tightening. Previews pointed to elevated inflation, resilient euro-area growth and a stable labour market as the justification, with the July meeting minutes having explicitly kept the September decision open. The meeting mattered because it placed the euro area on the same hawkish track as U.S. markets, where traders were simultaneously pricing a Federal Reserve hike. A resumption of ECB tightening would mark a decisive turn away from the easing cycle, with implications for euro-area mortgage costs, sovereign bond spreads and the euro-dollar exchange rate, all against a backdrop of energy prices climbing above $100 a barrel.