ECB leaves interest rates unchanged at 4.5%

March 08, 2024 (MLN): The European Central Bank (ECB) in its meeting held on March 07 kept the benchmark refinancing interest rate unchanged at 4.5%.

Accordingly, the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will also remain unchanged at 4.75% and 4% respectively, along with the main benchmark refinancing rate.

Since the last governing council meeting in January, inflation has declined further, the ECB noted.

In the latest ECB staff projections, inflation has been revised down, in particular for 2024 which mainly reflects a lower contribution from energy prices.

Staff now project inflation to average 2.3% in 2024, 2.0% in 2025, and 1.9% in 2026.

The projections for inflation excluding energy and food have also been revised down and average 2.6% for 2024, 2.1% for 2025, and 2.0% for 2026.

Although most measures of underlying inflation have eased further, domestic price pressures remain high, in part owing to strong growth in wages.

Financing conditions are restrictive and the past interest rate increases continue to weigh on demand, which is helping push down inflation.

Staff have revised down their growth projection for 2024 to 0.6%, with economic activity expected to remain subdued in the near term.

Thereafter, staff expect the economy to pick up and to grow at 1.5% in 2025 and 1.6% in 2026, supported initially by consumption and later also by investment.

The governing council is determined to ensure that inflation returns to its 2% medium-term target in a timely manner.

Based on its current assessment, the governing council considers that the key ECB interest rates are at levels that, maintained for a sufficiently long duration, will make a substantial contribution to this goal.

The governing council’s future decisions will ensure that policy rates will be set at sufficiently restrictive levels for as long as necessary, it said.

The governing council will continue to follow a data-dependent approach to determining the appropriate level and duration of restriction.

In particular, the governing council’s interest rate decisions will be based on its assessment of the inflation outlook in light of the incoming economic and financial data, the dynamics of underlying inflation and the strength of monetary policy transmission.

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