|
CNBC'S MOST SHARED
- Unemployed? Bored? Make Money Playing Beer Pong
- The Highest Grossing (Inflation Adjusted) Movies of All Time
- Social Networking's 'Naked' Truth
- Merrill's McCann Seen as UBS Wealth Frontrunner
- Geek Squad V. Gizmodo
- Warren Buffett's Top Three Investment Rules for the Average American
- Why You Should Watch Fund Flows
- Why the Credit Pendulum Is Stuck at 'Stupid'
- Blog You!!!
- Nora Tobin Answers Our Call
- Cheney Told CIA to Withhold Information: Report
- Why the Credit Pendulum Is Stuck at 'Stupid'
- Stimulus Will Kick in Later this Year: President Obama
- Lender CIT Group Hires Premier Bankruptcy Adviser
- Government Selling Bank Stakes for Too Cheap: Panel
- Buffett's Top 3 Investment Rules for Average Americans
- Market Insider: Earnings Loom in the Week Ahead
- Bulls Get Summertime Blues, But It's Hot Fun for Bears
- As Banks Fail, Strong Institutions Become More Visible
- Eric Schmidt on Government Scrutiny and Economic Recovery
- Market 360: The Week's Best & Worst
- Geek Squad V. Gizmodo
- Brandt: Google Chrome OS in the Post-PC Age
- Other People Are Weirder Than We Are
- Bank Failures: Is The Nightmare Over? (Video)
- California Here I Go? No.
- Roginsky: No More Mr. Nice Guy
- Commercial Conundrum
The disparity between U.S. and euro zone interest rates is starting to cause problems, French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde told CNBC Monday, adding that Europe’s rampant inflation will ease.
![]() |
AP |
The European Central Bank has held rates steady at 4 percent since June 2007 in the hope of quelling the region’s rising prices, which have recently hit a new high of 3.6 percent.
But, signs that the Euro Zone economies are feeling the pain of the global credit crunch have begun to emerge with the European Commission confirming it expects growth to slow dramatically in 2008.
“Out forecast, as far as inflation is concerned, is that it will reach a peak … the average rate of inflation is not gong to run at the rate it has run for the last 3 months,” Lagarde said.
The Federal Reserve has slashed U.S. interest rates to 2.25 percent since the subprime crisis began last summer, widening the gap between the two central bank’s re-financing rates.
Lagarde refused to label European interest rates as too high, when speaking to CNBC, but said the spread was “beginning to create an issue.”








