ECB left monetary policy unchanged as widely expected. Main refinancing rate is held at 0.00%. Marginal lending facility and deposit facility rates were held at 0.25% and -0.50% respectively. The asset purchase program will continue at a monthly pace of EUR 20B.
The forward guidance was also kept unchanged. “The Governing Council expects the key ECB interest rates to remain at their present or lower levels until it has seen the inflation outlook robustly converge to a level sufficiently close to, but below, 2% within its projection horizon, and such convergence has been consistently reflected in underlying inflation dynamics.”
