Overview
- ECB left rates unchanged for a sixth meeting and raised its 2026 inflation forecast to 2.6% from 1.9%, with a severe-case estimate of 4.4% and a cut to GDP growth to 0.9%.
- Bank of England held its policy rate at 3.75% for a second straight meeting to gauge the pass-through from higher oil and gas prices.
- Bank of Japan kept its policy rate around 0.75% for a second meeting, and Governor Kazuo Ueda warned a prolonged oil surge could increasingly weigh on growth.
- The Federal Reserve maintained its target range at 3.5–3.75% as the global energy shock complicates the policy path that had been tilting toward cuts earlier this year.
- BOE Governor Andrew Bailey cautioned that household utility bills could jump later this year if current conditions persist, reinforcing the wait-and-see stance across major central banks.