ECB holds key rate at 0.15pc

FRANKFURT, Aug 7 (AFP): The European Central Bank held its key interest rates unchanged at its regular policy meeting Thursday, two months after easing monetary conditions in the 18-country euro area.
As widely expected, the ECB's decision-making governing council decided to hold the bank's main refi refinancing rate steady at 0.15 per cent, the marginal lending rate at 0.40 per cent and the deposit rate at minus 0.10 per cent.
ECB watchers had not been expecting any new policy moves this month after the central bank unveiled a package of unprecedented measures in June in its battle to prevent the single currency area from slipping into deflation.
At that meeting, the ECB entered uncharted waters, taking one of its key interest rates into negative territory for the first time.
This means that banks will be charged for parking funds at the ECB to encourage them to lend to businesses and consumers instead.
The ECB also unveiled plans to pump more liquidity into the financial system later this year using the Targeted Long-Term Refinancing Operation (TLTRO).