ECB raises interest rate by 0.25 percent

The European Central Bank as anticipated raised interest rates by a quarter percentage point to three percent on Thursday (3 August).

This is the fourth hike in the rates since December 2005 and comes despite criticism from some of the biggest member states in the eurozone saying high borrowing costs harm their economic recovery.

Inflation in the eurozone has been at 2.5 percent for the last three months, well up on the ECB's two percent target rate.