Germany's IG Metall union will launch a new round of wage negotiations in October, demanding a 5% pay raise for approximately 3.7 million workers in the metal and electrical components industries to counter persistent inflationary pressures in Germany. The outcome of these negotiations will directly impact the European Central Bank's (ECB) monetary policy direction; an acceleration in wage growth would strengthen market expectations for further ECB monetary tightening. Previously, the ECB had raised interest rates twice to prevent energy price shocks from evolving into persistent inflation.