The European Central Bank (ECB) has left eurozone interest rates unchanged at 0.75%, as had been widely expected. Many analysts do not expect the ECB to alter rates from their current record low until next year at the earliest.
ECB president Mario Draghi told a news conference that business confidence was returning, but the situation “remains fragile”. The last time the ECB made a change to its main interest rate was in July, when it was cut from 1%. Recent surveys have suggested that the pace of decline in the eurozone’s manufacturing and service sectors has slowed. Mr Draghi said that there were signs that business and financial confidence in the eurozone was returning, although there “continues to be downside risks”. The increasing amount of loans that European banks are repaying to the ECB was a sign of that confidence, he said. “It means they (banks) are less uncertain than they were a year ago.”
