The European Central Bank is set to push ahead with interest rates increases this week.
The surprising strength of the euro zone economy is forcing financial markets to reconsider how far the rate rises might go with not even a drop in oil prices and inflation likely to break their stride.
A fifth hike of a quarter percentage point to 3.25 per cent is a virtual certainty when the ECB's Governing Council meets in Paris on Thursday, and one more rise in December looks probable.
From the International Monetary Fund to the OECD, most advice until recently had been to hold off on tightening. But the ECB pressed ahead, and now the 12-nation region is performing at its best since the boom days of 1998-2000 while inflation is retreating.
Corporate profits are high, private spending is starting to revive and the jobless rate has tumbled to its lowest level in five years.
The outlook is less clear for next year. If growth remains strong - as ECB staff currently predict - rates of at least 4 per cent by the end of 2007 should not be ruled out, one senior ECB central banker told Reuters recently.