- ECB's Trichet Spells Out Monetary Exit Events
- Next Hit for Jobless: Losing Unemployment Benefits
- Credit Suisse in Talks to Buy Mesirow Unit: Report
- G20 to Pledge Loose Policy
- Philip Morris Thai Faces $2 Billion Tax Charges
- UK Troubled Bank Stakes Open to New Entrants: Report
- Why a Manufacturing Rebound Could Hurt Stocks
- Treasury May Give More Help to Homeowners
- Gold Rush by Investors Could Push Price Up to $1,200
- Mortgage Rates May Rise Soon Unless Fed Continues to Intervene
- Use September as Buying Opportunity: Stock Picker
- Billionaire vs. Billionaire in Airport Dogfight
- Execs: Are You Ready For This Attack?
- Sir James Dyson: Why the World Needs More Engineers
- Schork Oil Outlook: Let’s Hear It for the Speculator
- Big Machinery Firm Faces 'Muted Recovery': Analyst
- Investors 'Darken Picture' for Netflix
- 'Not Expecting Another Market Correction': Strategist
MOST SHARED
- Mortgage Rates May Rise Soon Unless Fed Continues to Intervene
- Customers Angered as iPhones Overload AT&T
- Stiglitz: Odds of Robust US Rebound 'Very, Very Weak'
- 2009: The Year the Music Video Game Died?
- Next Hit for Jobless: Losing Unemployment Benefits
- Apple Prepares New iPhone Accounting?
- Over 50? Maybe You Shouldn't Own Stocks
Text Size 
The European Central Bank kept its main refinancing rate unchanged at a record low of 1.0 percent on Thursday, as expected by economists.
Markets are now turning their attention to President Jean-Claude Trichet's news conference at 1:30 pm London time, when he will explain the decision and may sound a slightly more upbeat tone on prospects for a return to economic growth.
The ECB also kept its overnight deposit rate, which acts as a floor for money markets, at 0.25 percent and left its marginal lending rate at 1.75 percent.
 |
All 75 economists in a Reuters poll expected the ECB to leave rates on hold.
The ECB has lowered its rates from 4.25 percent since October after the financial crisis wreaked havoc in the euro zone economy and inflation risks have subsided.
Euro zone consumer prices are falling and the economy is still shrinking, although some recent data has shown improvement.
Rate Appropriate, Price Falls Temporary:Trichet
Euro zone interest rates remain appropriate, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said on Thursday, after the bank kept rates at 1.0 percent for the third month in a row.
Trichet said negative inflation rates were temporary but price developments were likely to remain dampened, while the economy would remain weak over the rest of the year but the
contraction was slowing down.
"Current rates remain appropriate," he told reporters at his monthly news conference. "Economic activity over the remainder of this year is likely to remain weak, although the pace of contraction is clearly slowing down."
His comments are in line with analysts' expectations that they ECB will keep rates unchanged until the end of the third quarter of next year.
"We expect the current episode of extremely low or negative inflation rates to be short-lived and price stability to be maintained over the medium term," said Trichet.
Referring to 2010, he added: "After a phase of stabilization a gradual recovery with positive quarterly growth rates is expected."
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes