– This is the script of CNBC's news report for China's CCTV on March 6, Monday.
Welcome to CNBC Business Daily, I'm Qian Chen.
With odds in favor of a March hilke in the US after Janet Yellen's speech last Friday, FED and ECB, two of the world's biggest central banks are likely to find themselves with a bigger policy gap in the next two weeks.
The ECB is expected to resist calls to start tightening policy during its policy meeting this Thursday, despite recent data showed surging inflation and robust economy recovery.
Figures from Eurostat found that the unemployment rate in the eurozone remained unchanged at 9.6% in January, which is the lowest level since May 2009.
In the inflation front, data showed that inflation in the 19-nation bloc hit 2% in February, according to Eurostat, up from a rate of 1.8% the month before.
The rate is the highest since January 2013 and is slightly above the ECB's target of just below 2%.
However, with growth on its best run since before the financial crisis and inflation peeking just above the ECB's target, calls are mounting, particularly in Germany, for the bank to scale back its 2.3 trillion euro ($2.42 trillion) bond buying scheme and raise its negative interest rates.
However, with just weeks to go before contentious French and Dutch elections, the ECB has been reluctant to change the current policy.
ECB President Mario Draghi will probably avoid any discussion about winding down asset buys, even pushing back on calls by some rate setters to tweak the ECB's guidance, giving up its reference to further rate cuts, a possibility markets have already priced out.
That is to say, if Fed is to hike during the upcoming meeting, we will be looking at a rate of - 0.4 percent in Europe and a higher rate between 0.75 and 1 percent in the US.
CNBC's Qian Chen, reporting from Singapore.