This Thursday sees an interest rate decision from the European Central Bank and despite disasters in Japan, tensions in the Middle East and the ongoing debt threat posed by peripheral European states, almost all analysts believe it’s a foregone conclusion that the Central Bank will raise interest rates.
Eurozone rates have been frozen at a record low of 1 percent since May 2009 and as of early March this year, many pundits weren't penciling in a hike until the second half of the year, at the earliest.
But all that changed on March 3rd when, at the ECB's monthly media briefing, the ECB's President Jean-Claude Trichet warned of "strong vigilance" against inflation.
Data last week seems to support Trichet's view as March's annual inflation rate jumped to 2.6% from 2.4% in February, the highest level since October 2008, when the rate was 3.2%.
But with so many uncertainties currently circulating about the health of the global economy is a potential tightening by the ECB too soon?
That's our Squawk Stats Question of the week: