FRANKFURT, Nov 24 (Reuters) - European Central Bank policymakers feared that inflation may be getting entrenched at their last policy gathering so rates would need to rise further, the accounts of the Oct 26-27 meeting showed on Thursday.
The ECB raised rates by 75 basis points to 1.5% at the meeting to fight sky high inflation, bringing its total hikes to 200 basis points since July for its fastest policy tightening on record.
"It was also clear that rates would need to be raised further to reach a level that would deliver on the ECB’s 2% medium-term target," the accounts of the meeting showed.
The 75-basis-point rate hike was supported by a large majority, although a "few" policymaker wanted a smaller, 50-basis-point move.
Even if the ECB slows down, markets see the deposit rate doubling to 3% next year as inflation, now at 10.6%, will take years, possibly until 2025, to fall back to the ECB's 2% target.