The European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged today, holding them at record lows as it prints money to lift the economy and raise inflation.

The decision to leave the cost of borrowing unchanged was widely expected after the ECB cut rates to rock-bottom levels a year ago and repeatedly said they had hit "the lower bound".

At today's meeting, the ECB left its main refinancing rate, which determines the cost of credit in the economy, at 0.05 per cent.

It also kept the rate on bank overnight deposits at -0.20 per cent, which means banks pay to park funds at the central bank, and held its marginal lending facility - or emergency overnight borrowing rate for banks - at 0.30 per cent.

 

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.