Size of ECB Interest-Rate Rise at May Meeting Remains Open

With two weeks left until the European Central Bank’s May 4 meeting, the only question seems to be whether the ECB will opt for a 25 or a 50 basis point interest-rate rise, Carsten Brzeski, global head of macro at ING, writes in a note. “The growing divide within the ECB, signaled in the accounts, is probably the best argument for a compromise of a 25bp interest-rate increase,” he writes after the ECB released its accounts of its March 16 meeting. The next inflation print and the latest Bank Lending Survey, both to be released only a few days before the May meeting, will tip the balance, he writes, adding that a 50 basis…