Inflation across the Eurozone surged to 5.1% in January from 5% in the previous month, despite optimistic expectations for a sharp drop to 4.4%, data from Eurostat showed on Wednesday. Inflation is now more than twice the ECB’s 2% target.
The latest growth reportedly reflects the hottest rate of inflation across the 19 countries that have shared the euro since the records began.
Meanwhile, the single currency jumped by 0.3% to $1.13050, touching a one-week high to the US dollar, on the expectation that the ECB would signal a faster path for policy tightening as early as Thursday.