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Central banks signal a slower path on rates as inflation cools unevenly

Policymakers are split between guarding against a services rebound and protecting fragile growth.

Daniel Osei

Wire report · Touchstone Markets Desk

Frankfurt · 15 Aug 2026, 04:05 UTC · 3 min read

Rate-setters have signalled patience rather than a decisive turn.
Rate-setters have signalled patience rather than a decisive turn.

Rate-setters across several major economies have signalled patience, pointing to goods disinflation that continues to run ahead of a stubborn services component driven by wages and administered prices.

The divergence is now less about direction than pace. Committees broadly expect policy to ease, but several members want confirmation that services inflation is durably slowing before moving again.

Energy is the swing factor

Analysts flag energy costs as the dominant upside risk to the forecast path, giving new midstream and gas-to-power capacity an outsized macro relevance in import-dependent markets.

The last mile of disinflation runs through energy and housing, not through goods prices.

Wire report · Touchstone Markets Desk · Published 15 Aug 2026, 04:05 UTC

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