Europe’s central bank hits pause on rate cuts as inflation takes its sweet time to come down to 2%

AP Business Writer

European home buyers and businesses are going to have to wait for lower interest rates. That’s because the European Central Bank probably isn’t ready to cut its benchmark at its regular meeting Thursday. The reason: Bank President Christine Lagarde and her officials aren’t satisfied that inflation is firmly under control. It’s down from double digits but stuck above where she and the ECB want it to be. The experts who follow the bank are saying a cut might not come until September. Same deal in the U.S. where the Fed is looking at a cut in September.