FRANKFURT — The European Central Bank's Governing Council held its three key interest rates steady, leaving the deposit facility rate at 2.00 percent, the main refinancing operations rate at 2.15 percent, and the marginal lending facility rate at 2.40 percent.
Inflation remains close to the ECB's 2 percent medium-term target, and the Governing Council's assessment of the inflation outlook is broadly unchanged. The decision reflects confidence in price stability, though the global environment remains contested by trade disputes and geopolitical tensions.
The Eurozone economy has continued to grow, supported by a robust labor market and solid private sector balance sheets. The ECB's previous rate cuts have contributed to this resilience.
The Governing Council will follow a data-dependent, meeting-by-meeting approach to monetary policy and is not pre-committing to a particular rate path. Future decisions will hinge on assessments of the inflation outlook, incoming economic and financial data, underlying inflation dynamics, and monetary policy transmission strength.
The Eurosystem's Asset Purchase Program and Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program portfolios are declining at a measured pace, as the ECB no longer reinvests principal payments from maturing securities—a form of quantitative tightening.
The Transmission Protection Instrument remains available to counter disorderly market dynamics that threaten monetary policy transmission across the euro area. The Governing Council stands ready to adjust all instruments within its mandate to stabilize inflation and preserve transmission effectiveness.
