Europe will have to contend with the energy price shock for months despite the tentative U.S.-Iran agreement to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, European Central Bank (ECB) officials said this week. The ECB last week raised key interest rates for the euro area for the first time since 2023 as the Middle East conflict hiked energy prices that have started to feed into core inflation. The ECB raised the key interest rate by 25 basis points to 2.25%, its first hike since 2023.