ECB faces bumpy road to low inflation

FRANKFURT – Workers in Europe are hoping this year’s pay round will help restore incomes eroded by higher prices, but the expected boost to their purchasing power could hamper the European Central Bank’s efforts to bring inflation back to target. The ECB has singled out wages as the single biggest risk to its one-and-a-half year crusade against inflation. It expects salary growth across the euro zone of 4.6 percent this year, far more than the 3-percent pace it considers consistent with inflation at its 2 percent target. Higher wage settlements would be a risk to interest-rate cuts that financial markets are betting will start in April. “We see a path to 3 percent (wage growth) but it will be a…