The European Central Bank (ECB) announced on the 11th (local time) that it would keep its policy rates unchanged following a monetary policy council meeting. As a result, all three key policy rates-the deposit rate (2.00%), the main refinancing rate (2.15%), and the marginal lending rate (2.40%)-were held steady.
Additionally, the gap between the Eurozone’s benchmark deposit rate and South Korea’s base rate (2.50%) remains at 0.5 percentage points, while the difference with the United States (4.25-4.50%) stands at 2.25-2.50 percentage points.
From June last year to June this year, the ECB cut its policy rates a total of eight times, lowering the deposit rate from 4.00% to 2.00%.
The ECB halted its rate cuts at the July meeting after the Eurozone’s consumer inflation rate stabilized around the 2.0% target. ECB President Christine Lagarde, when deciding on a seventh consecutive rate cut in June, stated, “We believe we are nearing the end of the monetary policy cycle.”
Meanwhile, the ECB raised its forecast for this year’s Eurozone consumer inflation rate from 2.0% to 2.1%, and its economic growth forecast from 0.9% to 1.2%. It also projected a 1.7% consumer inflation rate and 1.0% economic growth rate for next year.
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