FRANKFURT (Reuters – On Thursday, the European Central Bank said it would close a long-running bond purchasing scheme that began on July 1. It also indicated a string interest rate rises starting from July in its fight against stubbornly high inflation.

The ECB has decided to reverse the stimulus measures that it had been using for the past decade, as prices rose last month at an unprecedented 8.1%.

This policy aims to prevent rapid price rise from leaking into the wider economy, and causing wage-price spirals that are difficult to break.

In a move that was long anticipated, the ECB stated it would terminate its Asset Purchase Programme. This is its primary stimulus tool in the aftermath of the Eurozone debt crisis. The ECB also said that rates would be raised by 25 basis points in July and then again by a higher margin in September.

The ECB stated that the Governing council intended to increase the key ECB interest rate by 25 basis points during its July monetary policy meeting.

The Governing Council stated it expected to raise key ECB rates once again in September. A larger increase will be approved at the September meeting if the medium term inflation outlook is not improved or persists.

The ECB deposit rate is currently at minus 0.5%. Christine Lagarde, chief of the ECB, has stated that it may be lower or even higher by the end the third quarter.

The markets expect more aggressive actions, including 135 basis point hikes before the year ends, as well as an increase at each meeting starting in July with some moves exceeding 25 basis points.

In 11 years, the bank has not increased rates and since 2014, it has had a negative deposit rate.

The 1230 GMT news conference by Lagarde is now the focus of attention.