European Central Bank keeps key interest rates unchanged

ANKARA

The European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday kept its key interest rates unchanged in line with expectations.

The interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 0.00%, 0.25% and minus 0.50%, respectively, the bank said.

The ECB expects interest rates "to remain at their present or lower levels until it sees inflation reaching 2%."

The bank also said it judges that realized progress in underlying inflation is sufficiently advanced to be consistent with inflation stabilizing at 2% over the medium term.

"This may also imply a transitory period in which inflation is moderately above target," it added.

The bank also said that "favourable financing conditions can be maintained with a moderately lower pace of net asset purchases under the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP) than in the previous two quarters."

It was underlined that net asset purchases in the pandemic emergency purchase program (PEPP) of €1,850 billion ($2,187 billion) will continue until at least March 2022 or until it is decided that the COVID-19 crisis is over.

The net purchases under the bank's asset purchase program will continue at the level of €20 billion ($24 billion) per month.