BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - The European Central Bank left its key interest rate unchanged on Thursday, as expected, and raised the euro area growth projection for this year while inflation forecasts were stable.
The Governing Council, led by ECB President Christine Lagarde, held the deposit rate steady at 2.00 percent. The refinancing rate was left unchanged at 2.15 percent and the marginal lending rate at 2.40 percent.
Eurozone interest rates were last revised in June when they were reduced by 25-basis points. The bank had cut interest rates by a quarter basis points each in every rate-setting session since September last year.
The bank also released the latest ECB Staff macroeconomic projections for the euro area economy. Inflation forecasts were largely unchanged, while growth projections were revised.
The ECB Staff projected Eurozone headline inflation to average 2.1 percent this year, 1.7 percent next year and 1.9 percent in 2027.
Core inflation, which excludes energy and food, was expected to average 2.4 percent this year, 1.9 percent next year and 1.8 percent in 2027.
The Eurozone economy was projected to grow by 1.2 percent this year, which was faster than the 0.9 percent expected in June. The growth projection for next year was trimmed to 1.0 percent, while the projection for 2027 was unchanged at 1.3 percent.
'The Governing Council is determined to ensure that inflation stabilizes at its 2 percent target in the medium term,' the ECB reiterated. 'It will follow a data-dependent and meeting-by-meeting approach to determining the appropriate monetary policy stance.'
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