2021-04-22 16:05:20 GMT2021-04-23 00:05:20(Beijing Time) Xinhua English
FRANKFURT, April 22 (Xinhua) The European Central Bank (ECB) said on Thursday that it decided to keep the euro area key interest rates unchanged following a regular monetary policy meeting.
Eurozone key interest rates will remain at record low levels, with the base interest rate, marginal lending rate and deposit rate unchanged at 0.00 percent, 0.25 percent and minus 0.50 percent, respectively, the ECB said in a statement.
The ECB also said that incoming information confirmed the joint assessment of financing conditions and the inflation outlook carried out at the last meeting in March, when the Governing Council decided to pick up the pace of bond purchases under the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program (PEPP) over the following quarter.
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ECB left the Deposit Interest Rate unchanged at -0.5% today, as expected. In addition, the central bank will continue to buy bonds at a significantly faster pace this quarter under the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program (PEPP). The ECB has the authority to purchase up to 1.85 trillion Euros through March 2022. However, “significantly faster pace” is an objective term. During the first quarter of 2021, the ECB bought roughly 10 billion Euros of bonds per month. “Significantly faster pace” thus far in Q2 meant buying 15-20 billion E
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A change in policy stance is unlikely, said Mark Wall, a chief economist with Deutsche Bank, in a research note. A decision whether or not to maintain the new faster pace of PEPP purchases will be made after a joint assessment of financing conditions and the outlook for inflation at the Council Meeting on June 10, he added, suggesting no updates for the meeting on Thursday this week.
PEPP sped up
In the wake of the pandemic, the ECB launched its Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program, or PEPP, which buys bonds in the region to stimulate lending and fuel an economic recovery. It left that program unchanged at its meeting in March, with the target purchase amount still at 1.85 trillion euros ($2.21 trillion) which is due to last until March 2022.