The European Central Bank has left interest rates unchanged and given few indications of when it might start to cut borrowing costs despite saying it expects to hit its inflation target by 2025.
The ECB’s decision on Thursday came as investors ramped up their bets that major central banks are getting closer to lowering borrowing costs, following signals from US Federal Reserve officials that they expect to cut rates more aggressively than previously planned next year.
After the ECB maintained its benchmark deposit rate at its highest-ever level of 4 per cent for the second consecutive meeting, policymakers repeated their determination to keep borrowing costs at “sufficiently restrictive levels for as long as necessary”.