ECB interest rate hike 'very likely' in April
Bank of Ireland is forecasting that the European Central Bank (ECB) will impose at least one interest rate increase in the coming months.
BOI says markets are pricing in three quarter-point rate hikes before the end of the year - with the main interest rate set to reach 2.5% by the end of next year.
The bank says the current instability in oil prices and the ongoing sovereign debt problems in the euro zone could delay the ECB plans.
However Bank of Ireland Group Chief Economist Dr Dan McLaughlin believes an increase in April is very likely.
"The market is now pricing in two further increases this year," he said.
"That would take the repo rate, as it is called, from 1% to 1.75% by year end."
However Dr McLaughlin said he was "not so certain" that all of the forecast rate hikes would materialise, as the economic outlook at present was clouded by the issue of rising oil prices.
